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Castles  of  Enalanb 


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Zbdt  Stori?  mb  Structure. 


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Sir  Barnes  35).  macftenjie. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


GIFT 

From  the  Estate  of 
Urie  McClearv 


Zbc  Castles  of  Englaut) 


"  /  luu'c  noticed  that  when  a  man  of  average 

intelligence  once  begins  to  yield   to   the  fascina- 

tiott  of  ancient  castles  and  earthworks,  it  is  all 

over  with  him." 

Dr.  A.  Jessop. 


}^ 


THE 


Castlee  of  Entjianb 


THEIR  STORY  AND  STRUCTURE 


BY 

Sir  JAMES   D.   MACKENZIE 

BARONET  OF  SCATWELL  AND  TAKIiAT 

Il/r//  FORTY  PLATES,  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY-EIGHT  TEXT 
ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  SE\E.\TY  PLANS 

^  IN   TWO   VOLUMES 

Vol.   I. 


NEW    YORK 

THE    M  ACM  ILL  AX    CO. 

1896 


All  rights  reserved 


KoH  4-3"4d'6       V 


ARTS 

V  I 


Airm] 


To 
HHR  MAJESTY   QUEEN   VICTORIA 
EMPRESS    OF   INDIA 
the  beloved  successor  of  a  mighty  line  of  Sovereigns 
whose  history  and  deeds  are  inseparably 
connected  with  so  many 
of 
the  Ancient  Fortresses  of  England 
this  Work  is 
by  Her  Majesty's  gracious  permission 
with  profound  loyalty,  most  humbly 

2)e&icate5 


u.c.i 

Art*  LI 


HAREWOOD,  YORKSHIRE 


(Sitfol.tl) 


Ipvetace 


THICSK  Volumes  owe  tlitir  (.■xistL-nce  to  the  Liuluiiiij^  interest  attacliiiij^ 
to  the  rehcs  ot  the  military  architeeture  ot  tliis  eoiiiitiy,  and  to  a 
feeUng  of  regix-t  tliat  so  little  of  this  rich  store  lias  survived  the 
centuries.  Between  600  and  700  castles  were  built  in  England 
from  the  Contjuest  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VI 11.,  and  of  these  little  more  than 
one-half  have  withstood  the  ccjrrosion  of  time  and  climate,  and  the  destroying 
hand  of  man.  Those  of  whicli  ruins  still  remain  iiavc  often  been  written 
about,  from  the  time  ol  Iceland  to  the  present  dav  ;  not  so  those  fiiat  have 
disappeared  entirely,  or  almost  so  ;  while  of  some  it  is  baiely  possible  to  trace 
even  their  sites — pcricic  cliain  niiiur. 

It  is  here  attempted  to  collect  whatever  is  known  of  these  fastnesses  in  a 
reference  book,  which  shall  imite — even  if  it  contain  little  that  is  new — such 
infoiination  as  can  be  gathered  trom  the  various  countv  histories,  the 
Proceedings  of  Archieological  and  other  Societies,  and  from  special  chronicles. 
The  division  attempted  in  these  volumes,  into  fluee  classes — chief,  minor,  and 
non-e.xistent  castles — will  be  found  convenient  for  reference,  and  it  has  been  tlie 


,.iii  PREFACE 

author's  endeavour  to  keep  his  description  of  the  660  castles  in  question,  with  their 

lords  and  their  architectural  peculiarities,  within  the  narrowest  compass  possible. 

King,  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  was  probably  the  f^rst  who  dealt  at  all 
adequatdy  witii  the  subject,  and  his  essay,  with  all  its  errors,  was  printed  in  the 
"Arch.xologia."  Interesting  records  of  buildings  existing  at  an  earlier  date 
are  to  be  found  in  the  drawings  and  accounts  published  by  the  Bucks  and  in 
Grose's  volumes.  In  recent  years  much  the  most  accurate  and  valuable  work 
has  been  done  by  Mr.  George  T.  Clark,  whose  treatment  of  eighty  of  the 
most  important  English  castles,  in  his  Military  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
is  a  perfect  example  of  what  this  sort  of  research  ought  to  be.  His  book  must 
be  consulted  for  fuller  details  than  are  here  given  of  all  the  castles  he  mentions, 
while  Mr.  Bates's  and  Mr.  Hartshorne's  works  give  ampler  information  re- 
garding the  northern  fortresses. 

With  the  exception  of  some  stonework  at  Corfe,  there  remains  probably  no 

masonry  of  any  castles  dating  prior  to  the  Conquest,  and  the  earliest  Norman 

militarv  structure  is  probably  St.  Leonard's  Tower  at  West  Mailing,  in  Kent,  built 

by  Bishop  Gundulph,  the  architect  of  the  White  Tower  of  London.     At  that  time 

the  country  was   fortified   at   its  chief  strategic  points   by  the  lofty  earthwork 

mounds  of  the  Saxons  and  Danes,  thrown  up  generally  to  command  a  passage 

or  a  river  ford,  or  to  dominate  certain  tracts  of  country.     The  Normans  seized 

these,  and,  in  order  to   keep  the  land  in  proper  subjection,  strengthened  and 

enlarged  them  with  moats  or  dry  ditches  and  palisades,  and  with  timber  fortalices. 

By  degrees  these  temporary  strongholds  gave  way  to  substantial  stonework 

towers  and  walls,  whose  erection  the  Conqueror  eiTected,  either  by  himself  or 

through  his  nobles,  for  the  securer  holding  of  the  lands  taken  from  their  Saxon 

possessors.     Upon   the    old    mound    or    burh    arose   generally   an   annular   or 

polygonal  open  tower,  or  donjon,  within  which  were  built  the  lodgings  of  its 

defenders;   while  on  rocky  sites,  or  where  the  mound  had  become  sufficiently 

consolidated  to  bear  the  weight,  this  keep  took  the  form  of  a  lofty  rectangular 

tower,  with  or  without  turrets  at  the  angles,  as  at  Guildford,  Christchurch,  Clun, 

and  other  places.     This  keep,  whether  "shell"  or  solid,  formed  the  funis  of  the 

chroniclers ;  while  the  strong  castle  walls,  extending  each  way  from  the  mound 

enclosing  the   ballium,  with   bastions  or  turrets  on    its   circuit,  concluded   the 

fortification  called  the  "castra"  or  "castellum." 

From  these  somewhat  simple  defences  grew  the  elaborate  concentric  fortress 
of  Edwardian  times,  with  its  double  line  of  wa!ls-as  at  the  Tower  of  London- 
entailing,  in  case  of  attack,  a  regular  siege. 

At  a  later  period  more  accommodation  and  greater  comfort  were  required. 
The  keep  no  longer  held  the  lords  and  their  retainers,  so  that  ranges  of  dwellings 


PREFACE  ix 

liad  to  be  iiddcd,  and  also  Slate  apartments,  banqueting  Iiall,  chapel,  domestic 
offices,  and  stablinj,'.  Tluis  the  extension  of  tlic  outer  walls  aflfoided  an 
oppnrtimity  for  the  art  and  resources  of  tlie  iniilder  in  the  best  era  of  military 
structures. 

When  it  was  further  discovered  —  notably  at  the  siege  of  Berwick  by 
Henry  1\'. — that  the  old  walls,  which  resisted  successfully  the  battering-ram 
and  engines,  were  of  no  avail  against  cannon,  reliance  was  placed  more  on  the 
breadtli  of  water  defences,  as  at  liodiam  and  Leeds  and  Shirburn,  than  on  the 
stonework. 

With  a  more  settled  condition  of  the  countrv,  the  grim  and  formidable  fortress 
gave  way  to  the  more  symmetrical  and  beautiful  mansion  of  brick  or  stone,  such 
as  Hurstmonceux,  Tattershall,  and  Broughton,  secured  ;ls  they  were  against  a  coup 
ilf  iiKiiii  by  :i  moat  with  drawbridge. 

The  end  ol  Hk  Wars  of  the  Roses  and  the  reign  of  Richard  III.  did  away  with 
the  necessity  for  such  fortihcafions  even ;  and  where  in  certain  cases  several  castles 
passed  into  the  same  hand,  some  were  sure  to  be  neglected,  because  the  keeping 
up  of  many  such  costly  dwellings  had  outgrown  individual  means.  Small  wonder 
tliat  wliLii  |i)liii  LlI.iiuI  was  sent  by  Henry  V'lll.  to  inspect  the  country,  he  found 
castles  of  Englaml  "  running  to  decay." 

Partial  repair  and  strengthening  of  such  fortresses  as  could  be  made  use  of 
ensued  during  the  Civil  War  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but  most  of  them  were 
wrecked  by  sieges,  and  others  were,  by  order  of  the  Parliamentary  Conunission 
appointed  to  control  the  castles,  either  demolished  or  "slighted."  Defences 
were  removed  and  frequently  roofs,  windows,  and  liftings  were  taken  out,  so  as 
to  make  them  untenable.  In  other  cases,  they  became  merely  a  local  quarry, 
open  to  every  spoiler,  and  tliat  is  generally  lu)w  Grose  and  Buck  represent 
them. 

It  is  not  possible  to  accept  the  statement  of  the  former,  on  the  authority  of 
Daniel,  wlinni  he  quotes,  that  in  King  Stephen's  time  there  were  1117  castles  in 
England,  all  built  during  his  reign,  and  that  these  were  demolished  in  accord- 
ance with  the  treaty  made  with  Henry  11.  at  Winchester,  in  1154.  After  the 
most  careful  research,  the  author  can  offer  reliable  records  of  only  660  castles, 
and  of  these  270  have  to  be  classed  as  non-existent.  If  any  castles,  of  which 
traces  or  records  can  be  found,  should  he  missed  from  these  pages,  the  author 
will  be  grateful  for  information,  which  will  certainly  be  made  use  of  in  the  case 
of  a  second  edition.  Such  omissions  ui  a  work  of  this  description  are  probably 
inevitable,  but  the  purpose  of  these  volumes  will  be  fairly  fuUilled  if  they  lead 
to  the  collection  ot  further  material  regarding  our  ancient  fortresses. 

It  will  be  observed  that  a  very  strict   line  has  had  to  be  drawn  so  as  to  include 
vol..  I.  6 


X  PREFACE 

only  hoiui  /;</i- defensible  strongholds,  and  to  omit  the  h;ilis  innumerable  and  other 
buildings  with  doubtful  fortifications.  A  few  of  these  latter,  such  as  Thornbury  in 
Gloucestershire,  had  to  be  mentioned  for  special  reasons,  either  on  account  of 
their  importance  in  the  local  history,  or  because  they  stand  upon  the  site  of  a  once 
existing  genuine  castle. 

The  author  has  to  tender  his  sincerest  thanks  to  the  veteran  explorer  and 
exi-Muient  of  media-val  architecture,  Mr.  George  T.  Clark,  for  the  great  assistance 
he  has  rendered,  and  for  the  use  of  his  most  valuable  papers  and  plans.  He  is 
also  much  indebted  to  Mr.  C.  J.  Bates  for  his  information  about  Border  holds, 
and  for  revising  the  chapter  on  Northumbrian  castles  and  towers.  In  addition,  it 
is  a  pleasure  to  recognise  the  ready  help  received  from  a  large  number  of 
correspondents,  owners  of  castles  and  others,  who  have  liberally  supplied  him 
with  views  and  informalion  ;  and  lastly,  tJic  author  is  under  special  obligation  to 
the  authorities  of  the  British  Museum  for  the  way  in  which  they  have,  during  the 
last  three  years,  facilitated  his  labours. 

The  majority  of  the  illustrations  are  from  photographs  by  Messrs.  F.  Frith 
and  Son,  of  Keigale,  the  view  of  Framlingham  is  by  Messrs.  Poulton  of  Lee, 
and  that  of  Appleby,  by  Mr.  Scott,  of  Carlisle. 

London,  October,  1896. 


Middlesex 

Hertfordshire 

Bedfordsiiirk 


GLOUCESTERSH  I R  E 

Worcestershire 
Staffordshire 


Lincolnshire 


Contents 


Kent         ..... 

Sussex  ....••■ 

Surrey     ...-•■  9 


I 
60 


I03 
126 

'35 


Buckinohamshire  '•♦3 

Oxfordshire  ...                       '49 

Berkshire            .  ■             •                                       •                  '9 

Hampshire  .                        •                                                           '9' 


21) 

239 
256 

272 
288 


Wiltshire 

Dorsetshire  .  .  .  ■  • 

Essex        .  .  .  •  •  • 

Suffolk  .  .  ■  •  •  •  • 

Norfolk  .  .  ...•■• 

Camhridc.eshire         ..•■•••  •5°9 

Huntingdonshire  ...•••  3'4 

Northamptonshire  .  .  •  •  ■  3'9 

Warwickshire  -J-*-* 

3'''8 

382 


389 


Leicestershire   ..••••  ^°^ 

Rutland        .••••■  ■*^ 


425 


Nottinghamshire  44/ 

Deruyshire  .  .  •  ■  ^ 


Xist  of  [plates 


Tower  of  London  . 
Dover  Castle 
Hever  Casti.e 
Leeds  Castle 
Rochester  Castlf.   . 
BoDiAM  Castle   . 

HURSTMONCEUX    CaSTLE 

Pevensey  Castle 

Tower  of  London    . 

Windsor  Castle 

St.  Geor(;f;s  Chapel,  Windsor 

Carishrooke  Castle 

CoRFE  Castle 

Fkamlinuham  Castle     . 

Rockingham  Castle 

Kenilwortii  Casti.k 

Maxstoke  Castle    . 

Caverswall  Castle 

Lincoln  Castle 

Nfavark  Castle 


Frvnti  loiter 

Tofni*  hH* 

'4 

ti 

20 

If 

36 

II 

3» 

11 

64 

74 

,, 

82 

,, 

106 

182 

., 

188 

M 

200 

,. 

242 

It 

278 

.. 

336 

11 

352 

.. 

358 

II 

390 

M 

436 

)» 

450 

:fi5iblioi}vapb\> 


©cncral 


1780 
1884 


1774 


1730 

1S5M 

1859) 

1SS4) 

1893  J 

1844 

1870 

1844 
1799 


1870^ 
1875) 


1857 


i860 


Camden's  Magna  Britannia.     Ed.  Gough. 
Medixval  Military  Architecture.  G.T.  Clark. 
Bibliotheca        Topographica       Britannica. 

Nichol,  Pegge,  &c. 
Iceland's  Itinerary. 
S.  and  N.  Buck's  Antiquities. 
Beauties  of  England   and    Wales.     Bayley 

and  Britton. 
Murray  and  Black's  Handbooks. 
Itinerarium  Curiosum.     Stukeley. 
Domestic  Architecture  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Turner  and  Parker. 

Life  of  Henry  IV.     J.  H.  Wylie. 

Castles  and  Abbeys.     W.  Beattie. 

Abbeys,  Castles,  and  Ancient  Halls.     John 

Timbs. 
The  Baron's  War.     W.  H.  Blaauw. 
Archaeologia,  Vols.  4  <S:6.  E.  King,  on  Castles. 
Gentleman's  Magazine. 
The  ArchjEological  Journal. 
History  of  the  Norman  Conquest.     E.  A. 

Freeman. 
History  of  William  Rufus.     E.  .A.  Freeman. 
Grose's  Antiquities. 
Life  of  Henry  II.     Lord  Lyttleton. 
Visits  to  Fields  of  Battle.     R.  Brooke. 
History  of  the  Queens  of  England.     Agnes 

Strickland. 
Collectanea  Archa;ologica. 
Reports  of    Associated   .Architectural,    &c., 

Societies. 


1825 

1813 

1826 
1647 
1857 
1838 
1807 
1855 
1769 
1778 

1840 


1878 


1631 
1880 
i«53 

1859) 
1861/ 


Ancient  Castles  in  England  and  W'ales. 
E.  W.  Brayley. 

Vestiges  of  Antiquity.     T.  Hastings. 

Vestigia  .Vnglicana.     S.  R.  Cooke. 

Anglia  Rediviva.     Sprigg. 

Gleanings  .\raong  Castles.     Henry  Harrod. 

Architectural  Remains.     Dawson  Turner. 

.\ntiquarian  and  Topographical  Cabinet. 

Architecture  of  England.     Dallaway. 

A  Description  of  England  and  Wales. 

The  Vertuosi's  Museum. 

Wanderings  of  an  Antiquary.     C.  Wright. 

Visits  to  Remarkable  Places,  &c.  W. 
Howitt. 

Magna  Britannia.     D.  Lyson. 

Old  English  History.     E.  A.  Freeman. 

History  of  England.     Hume. 

History  of  Scotland.     Tytler. 

History  of  the  English  People.  J.  R. 
Green. 

History  of  England.     J.  A.  Froude. 

Ancient  Funeral  Monuments.     Weever. 

Historical  Notes.     Ed.  Kite. 

Memoirs  of  Western  Counties.  By  Archaeo- 
logical Institute. 

Guides  to  the  S.  and  E.  Coasts.     Walcott. 

Proceedings.    Royal  .Archaeological  Institute. 
Monumenta  Antiqua.     King. 
Monasticon  .\nglicanum.     Dugdale. 


ikciit 


Archaeologia  Cantiana. 
1767     History  of  Kent.     Hasted. 
1869     History   of    Leeds    Castle.     C.    Wykeham 

Martin. 
1865     History  of  Tonbridge  Castle.  T.  P.  Fleming. 
1864     The  Church  and  Fortress  of  Dover.     Jno. 

Puckle. 


1797 
1888 
1799 
1859 

1959 
1876 


History  of  Dover  Castle.     Wm.  Darell. 
The  Cinque  Ports.     Burrows. 
History  of  Canterbury.     Ed.  Hasted. 
Guide   to   the  Coasts  of  Kent.     M.  E.  C, 

Walcott. 
Villare  Cantianum.     Thos.  Philipot 
Kentish  Archaeology.     W.  \.  S.  Robertson. 


XVI 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


i8j8 


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Biographical  Dictionary.     Chalmers. 
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1719 


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Evelyn's  Diary.     Kc  Leeds  Castle. 


Re  San- 


Susscj 


1870    History  of  Sussex.     M.  A.  Lower. 

Sussex  Archa'ological  Society's  Reports,  &c. 
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1831 
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b  11  r  I'  c  \2 


|„°'*  ■  Surrey.     Manning  and  Bray. 
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^(SMesej 


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1l3crtfoi'&5birc 


1826    Historical  Antiquities  of  Hertfordshire.     Sir 

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Berkhamstead.     J,  M.  Cobb. 
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3ScOtorDsbite 


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I    r»  lio......  ........ 


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JBucftiiigbaniBbire 


1847    History  of  Bucks.    Lipscomb. 
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Vol.  i. 
1813     Magna  Britannia.     D.  Lysons. 


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xvu 


OjforOsblrc 


1773  Ancient  State  of  Oxford.     Sir  John  I'eshall. 

1S4J  Oxonia  Antiqua.     Skelton.     2nd.  Ud. 

I1S41  History  of  Banbury.     Beesley. 

1852  Gazetteer  of  the  County  of  Oxford. 

1848  History  of  Hampton.     Giles. 

1S71  Notesof  Xonh  Oxford  Archa'ological  Society. 

1887  Notices  of    Shirburn   Castle.     Countess   of 
Macclesfield. 


1888 1 
iSSgj 

1802 

179G 

1823 


Reports  of  Oxford  Arch.xological  Society. 

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Brunetto  Latini),  Feb.-June. 
Vestiges  of  Oxford  Castle.     Ud.  King. 
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.113  c  i  h  6 1.1  i  r  c 


1858     Windsor  Castle.     Tighe  and  Davis. 
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History  of  Berks.     Kirby  Hedges. 
1858     Annals  of  Windsor.     K.  K.  Tighe. 
1841     Essay  on  Windsor  Castle.     Wyatt. 
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Wyattville. 


1870  Chronicles  of  Wallingford.    J.  H.  Crofts. 
1774     Faringdon  Hill.     H.  Jas.  Pye. 

1871  Transactions  of  the  Newbury  District  Field 

Club 
1839     History  and  Antiquities  of  Newbury. 
1783     Bibliolheca  Topographica   Britannica.    (/fc 

Donnington),  vol.  v. 
MSS.  by  Symonds.     British  Museum.    {lie 

Donnington) 


Iftampsbire 


1868  Hampshire.     J.  Leland. 

iSCnl   General    History  of   Hants.     B.   B.   Wood- 

1869  J  ward. 

1846     Antiquarian    and     Historical     Sketches    of 

Hants.     Henry  Moody. 
1R34     Antiquities  of  the    Priory   of  Christchurch, 

Hants.     E.  W.  Brayley 
1S45     Proceedings  of  the  Archa-ological   Institute 

at  Winchester. 
i8og     History   of  Winchester,     John  Milner.   2nd 

Ed. 
1859     Guide  to  the  Coasts  of  Hants,  &€.     M  E  C 

Walcott. 
1862     The    Priory   Church    of  Christchurch      M. 

E.  C.  Walcott. 


I7'J3 


1S45 


1645 

18S2 
1844 
1829 


Topographical  Remarks  on   South-Western 

Hants.     Richard  Warner. 
History,  &c.,  of  Porchester  Castle.     C.  H. 

Hartshorne. 
History,  &c.,  of  Porchester  Castle.     C.  H. 

Hartshorne. 
History,  &c  ,  of  Porchester  Castle.     Rev.  J. 

Vaughan  (Pamphlet). 
Hants.     Robert  Mudie.     Rf  Hps.  Waltham. 
A  Description  of  the  Siege  of  Basing  House. 
Basing  House,  and  "  A  Looking-glasse  for 

Popish  Garrisons,"  &c. 
The  Civil  War  in  Hampshire. 
History  of  Bishop's  Waltham.     C.  Walters. 
History  of  Farnham,  &c.     W.  C.  Smith. 


UTilti?I.Mre 


1562  Wiltshire  Topographical  Collection. 
1.S54  Wiltshire  Archaological,  &c.  Magazine. 
1852  History  of  Castle  Combe.     G.  P.  Scrope 
1S57  Notes,  &c.,  on  Wiltshire.     Henry  Moody. 

1563  History  of  Malmcsbury.     Canon  J   E  Jack- 

son. 

1814  Beauties  of  Wilts.     Britton. 

VOL.  1. 


1S39     History  of  Farleigh  Castle.     Taylor. 
18.S0     Transactions  of  British  Archaological  Asso- 
ciation.    E.  Kite. 
1862     CoUectionsof  John  Aubrey.    Canon  Jackson. 

Mercurius  Rusticns.     Bruno  Kyves 
18221  Ancient    History   of  Wiltshire.     Sir   R.  C. 
1844 1  Iloare 


XVlll 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Boii5ct6birc 


1S53 

1774 
I8S^ 


Story    of   Corfe    Castle.      Kt     Hon.    Geo. 

Bankes. 
History  of  Dorset.     J.  Hutchin. 
Collection  of  Topographical  Tracts.     Rev. 

E.  Harston. 


18S2 


Weymouth  Guide. 

Memoirs  of  the  History  and  .-\ntiquities   of 

the  Western  Counties. 
History   of   the   House   of   Arundel      J.    P. 

Yeatman. 


E  6  5  C  £ 


iSjS    Transactions    of    the   Essex   Archaeological  1S36 

Society. 

1892     Uygonc  Esse.v      W   Andrews.  1803 

1812    Architectural  Antiquities.     Britton.  176S 

1594     Historical  and  Chorographical  Description.  1525 

Norden. 


History  and  Topography  of   Esse.\.     Thos. 

Wright. 
History  of  Pleshy.     R.  Gough. 
History,  &c.,  of  Essex.     P.  Morant. 
History,  &c.,  of  Colchester.     F.  Cromwell. 


Suffotft 


Sullolk.     Suckling,  i    174S 

1S91     Proceedings,  Bury  and  West   Suffolk  Arch-        1849 

aeological  Institute. 
1S78     Guide  to  Framlingham.     R.Green.    3rd  Ed.    ,    iSig 
1810     History,  Ac  ,  of  Framlingham      Ed   Clay 
1829    Topography  and  History  of  Suffolk. 


Historical  .\ccount  of  Suffolk.     J    E.  Kirby. 
Suffolk  Antiquary.     J    Clark. 
Suffolk  Archjeology.     Rev.  C.  R.  Manning 
Excursions  in  the  County  of  Suffolk- 
Suffolk  Traveller. 


morfolf? 


1847    Norfolk  Archaeological  Society's  Tracts 

Jg°5|  Norfolk.     Blomeaeld. 

1S85     History  of  Norfolk.    Walter  Rye. 
1843    Ca-stle  and   Priory  of  Castle  .Vcre     J    II 
Bloom. 


1845  History  of  Orders,  &c.,  and  Castle  of  Nor- 
wich.    J.  Kirkpatrick. 

1842     History  of  Caistor  Castle.    Dawson  Turner. 

1S29  General  History  of  Caistor  Castle,  J. 
Chambers 


Cambrl5ciesbirc 


1808    Magna  Britannia     D.  I.vson 


1846     Publications     of     Cambridge     .\ntiquarian 
Society, 


IbuntingOonsbire 

Topography  and  History  of  Hunts.     Cooke. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XIX 


IHoitbanu'toiisJbiic 


:8^8     Historic  Memorials  of  Northampton.     Kcv.  1S7S 

C.  H.  Hartshorne  i8>ji 
1S21     History  of  Northampton 

i8ai     Historic  Notices  of  Kotheringhay.     Rev.  H.  1822 

K.  Bowney. 

1 880     Fotherinf,'hay.     Cuthbert  Bede.  1849 
iSj2     Rodiingham  Castle.  Rev.  C.  H.  Hartshorne     '    1879 

1891     Rockinj^ham  Castle.     C.  Wise.  1878 

1859     Life  of  Thomas   a   Becket.      Canon   J     I"  17S7 
Robertson. 


Handbook  for  Northampton  and  Rutland 

History  and  Antiquities  of  Northampton  and 
Rutland.     J   Bridges. 

History  and  Antiquities  of  Northampton  and 
Rutland.     G.  Baker. 

Guide  to  Northampton.    Wetton 

Reports,  .Vssociated  Architectural  Societies. 

.Vrchxological  Journal. 

Memoirs  of  the  Protectoral  House  of  Crom- 
well     Mark  Noble. 


Marwlchsbirc 


1862     Illustrations  of  Warwickshire     J.  Jeffry. 
1815     Historic  Account  of  Warwick  and  neighbour- 
hood.    F  W. 
1S93     Bygone  Warwickshire      W   Andrews. 


1765     Warwickshire.     Uugdale 
1S30     History  of  Warwickshire 
1820    Guide  to  Kenilworth 
History  of  Tamworth 


Smith 


C 1 0  u  c  c  6 1  c  r !?  b  iv  c 


1791  Historical,  &c  ,  Collections  of  Gloucester- 
shire.    R   Bigland. 

1791     History  of  Sudeley  Castle      C  W'illyams. 

1S77  Annals  of  Winchcombe  and  Sudeley.  Emma 
Dent. 


1821     Berkeley  MSS.     F.  D.  Fosbioke 

1712     History  of  Gloucestershire.    Sir  R.  Atkyns. 

1779     History  of  Gloucestershire.     S.  Rudder. 


1S50    Architectural     and    Archa-ological     Society 

Reports. 
17S1 )  Collections  for  a  History  of  Worcestershire. 
1799/  T.  R.  Nash. 


1U 0  i c c !? t c r £1  b ir c 

I  so  I 


British  .Archaeological  .Association.     Reports 

on  Worcester 
1S77     Worcestershire  Relics.     J.  Xoake. 
18O8     Guide  to  Worcestershire.     J    Noake. 


Staffor^!.M)il•c 


1880  Salt  Archaeological  Society. 

168O  Natural  History  of  Staffordshire.    Rob.  I'lot. 

1830  Views  &c.,  in  Staffordshire  &c.     \\'m.  West. 

1867  History  of  Dudley  Castle.     C.  Twamley. 


1843     Borough  of  Stoke  upon  Trent.   John  Ward. 
1832     History  of  Tutbury.     Sir  O.  Mosley. 
1798     Staffordshire.     Shaw. 


U  c  i  c  c  ti  t  c  r  i5  b  i  c  c 


I79I 
■859 
18551 
1856) 


History,  Ac  ,  of  Leicester.     James  Throsby. 
Account  of  Leicester  Castle.     J.  Thompson. 
Midland    Counties    Historical    Collection. 
Vols.  I,  and  H. 


1892     Bygone  Leicestershire.     W    .\ndrews 
Reports,  Leicester  .\rchilect   Society 

1S42     History  of  Charnwood.     I'otter. 
History  of  Leicester.    Curtis 


XX 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


IRutlanDsbttc 

iSii     History  and  Antiquities  of  Rutland.     Blore. 


ILtncolusbirc 


1S41 1  Memoirs  of  Arch.-coIogicaI  Society  of  Lin- 

1850 1  colnshire. 

18411  Lincolnshirs    Topographical   Society's    Re- 

1842)'  ports. 

1857  Associated  Architectural,  &c.,  Society's  Re- 
ports, Re  Lincolnshire. 

1851  Selections  from  Ancient,  &c.,  Edifices  in 
Lincolnshire.     Geo.  S.  Padley. 

1872     History  of  Sleaford.     Bishop  Trollope. 

1871     History  of  Castle  Bytham.     John  Wild. 


1S16     Historical  Description  of  Grantham      Wm 

Marrat. 
1820    Historical  Sketches  of  Horncastle.     G.  Weir. 
1S79     History  of  Stamford.     C.  Nevinson. 
1840    Tattershall  Castle. 
1S67     Memorials  of  Stamford.     M.  E.  C.  Walcott. 

History  of  Lincolnshire.     J.  Saunders. 
1871     Lincolnshire     Diocesan     Architectural 

Society's  Reports. 


IHottingbanu^biic 


i8j3    Old  and  New  Nottingham      Wm   H    Wylie 
1893     Popular    History    of    Notts.       Wylie     and 

Briscoe. 
1677     History  of  Nottinghamshire.     Thorston. 
1826    History,  &c.,  of  Worksop.    John  Holland. 


1S93     Bygone  Nottingham.     Wm.  Stevenson. 
1879    Annals  of  Newark-on-Trent.  Cornelius  Brown. 

„'*    •  Topographical  History  of  Newark.  J.  Curtis 

1887    Reports,  .Associated  Architectural  Societies. 


Setbgsbirc 


1880    The  Derbyshire  Gatherer  of  Archeological, 
&c.,  Facts.     W.  .\ndrews. 
History  of  Derbyshire.    John  Pendleton. 
1879    Derbyshire    Archaeological,    Sec.     Society's 

Journal. 
1831     History  of  Derbyshire.     Stephen  Glo\er. 


184C  Bolsover  Castle. 

1895  Bolsover  Castle     Rev.  G.  P.  A.  Downman. 

1S66  Derbyshire  Gatherings.     J.  B.  Robinson. 

1777  Tour  in  Derbyshire.     Bray 

1823  History  of  Chesterfield.     Rev.  Geo.  Hall. 


Cornwall 

History  of  Cornwall.     Borlase.  |  Journal  of  the  Royal  Institution  of  Cornwall. 

Sevoiisbire 

Devonshire  Association  for  the  Advancement  I  Memoirs  of  Berry  Pomeroy. 

of  Science  (Transactions).  |  Sprigg's  Anglia  Rediviva. 

Sonicrsctsbire 

History  of  Somerset.     CoUinson.  |  Somerset.     Philip 


/nioiimoutbsbirc 


History  of  Monmouthshire.     Williams. 
iSoi     Tour  in  Monmouthshire.     Co.\e. 


1839    Descriptive  account,  &c.,  of  Monmouthshire. 
Heath  C. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XXI 


IbcrcforOsbire 


1 804     History  of  Herefordshire.     Duncomb 


Herefordshire 
Kobinson. 


Castles    and    their    Owners. 


1856 
1841 

1837 
1868 


S  b  r  0  p  ^  b  1 V  c 


Antiquities  of  Shropshire.     Eyton.  1835 

History  of  Ludlow.     H.  Clive  1S30 

History,  &c.,  of  Shropshire.     C.  Hulb^rt. 
Castles  and   Old   Mansions  of  Shropshire.    |    1341 
F.  S.  Acton. 


Account  of  Hawkstone. 

Views.  &c.,  of  Towns  in   Shropshire  and 

StafTord.     W,  West. 
History  of  Tong.     S.  F.  Every. 


Cbcsbirc 


1S75     History  of  Cheshire     G  Ormerod. 
1893     Views  in  Cheshire  and  Lancashire.     N.  G. 
Philips. 


1855     Memorials  Archa:ological,  &c.,  of  Chester. 
M.  E.  C.  Walcott. 


1Uc6tmotlaiit>  nll^  Ciimticrlaii& 


History    and    Antiquities    of   Cumberland. 
JefTerson. 
1777     History  of  Cumberland.  Nicolson  and  Burns. 
1794     History  of  Cumberland.     Hutchinson 


Roman  Wall.     Bruce. 
Tour.     Pennant. 

Several  printed  Memoirs  of  Druidical  Castles 
as  noticed. 


Xaiicasbire 


1824     History.  &c. ,  of  the  County  of  Lancashire. 

Ed.  Baines. 
1S44     Chetham  Society,  Reviiws  of. 

Transactions  of   Historic   Society  of   Lan- 
cashire and  Cheshire. 
Traditions  of  Lancashire.     J.  Roby. 


Old  Halls  of  Lancashire      N.  G.  Philips. 

Richmondshire.     Whitaker 
1872     History  of  Whalley.     Whitaker. 
1817     Fragments  of  Lancashire.      Gregson. 
1892     Lancashire.     L.  H.  Grindon. 


L'orh 

5  b  i  r  C 

Richmondshire.     Whitaker. 

1798 

Guide  to  Craven.     J.  R.  Thomson. 

1878 

Craven.     Ord. 

1865 

1867 

Description  of  Craven.     J.  Cooke. 
History  of  Cleveland.     (Jrd. 

1865 

History  of  Cleveland.     J    C    -Vtkinson 

i860 

1808 

History  of  Cleveland.     Grave 

1848 

Castles    and    .\bbeys     of    Yorkshire 

w. 

1824 

Grainge. 

1875 

1859 

Vale  of  Mowbray.     W.  Grainge. 

1885 

House  of  Nevill.     H.  J.  Swallow. 

History  of  Yorkshire      Hutchinson. 

1853 

I83I 

History  of  the  County  of  Yorkshire. 

Allen. 

1892 

History  of  Yorkshire.    Sheahan  and  Whellan. 

1 791 

1797 

Historical  .\ccount  of  Wressel. 

1871)  Yorkshire    Past    and     Present.      Thos.    E. 

1877/ 

Baines. 

History  of  Kingston-upon-HuU.     Tickell. 
Surtees  Society's  Publications.    Vols.  37-47. 
History  of  Masham.     J.  Fisher. 
Honour,   &c.,   of  Pontefract.     Rev.   C.    H. 

Hartshorne. 
History,  Ac,  of  Blyth      John  Kaine. 
Memoirs  of  York.     Archicological  Society. 
History  of  Sherifl'  Hutton.     G.  Todd. 
Chronological  History  of  Bolton.  Jas.  Clegg. 
Reports  of  the  Associated  .\rchitectural,  Ac, 

Societies,  Vol.  10. 
Antiquities  of  Leeds.     Jas.  Wardell. 
Bygone  Yorkshire.     W.  Andrews. 
History  of  Northallerton.     A.  Crossfield. 
History  of  Hallamshire.      Hunter. 
History.     Hinderwell. 


XXII 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


©iirbam 


History  of  Durham.    Surlees. 

View  of  the  County  of  Durham.     Mackenzie 

and  Ross. 
Kaby  Castle  and  its  Lords  by  the  Duchess  of 

Cleveland. 
History  of  Durham.     Ormsby. 
Visits  to  Remarkable  Places.     Hewitt. 


Memorials  of  the  Rebellion  of  1569.  Howard. 
18631  Transactions  of  the  Architectural,  &c., 
1864 )  Society  of  Durham. 

1851  Guide  to  Raby. 

1852  Historical    .\ccount     of 

Jas.  Raine. 


Bishop   .\uckland. 


in  0  r  t  b  u  III  b  c  r  I  a  II D 


1832     History  of  Northumberland.     Hodgson. 

Archa;ologia  /Eliana. 
1891     Border   Holds   of    Northumberland.     C.  J. 

Bates. 
1825     View    of    the   Castles   of   Northumberland. 

E.  Mackenzie. 
1858     Feudal  and  Military  .Antiquities  of  Northum- 

berlauid.     Rev.  C.  H.  Hartshorne. 
1776    Border  History.    Ridpath. 
1861     Guide  to  Tynemouth,  &c.     W.  S.  Gibson. 
1769    Antiquities  of  Northumberland  and  Durham. 

J.  Wallis. 
Coasts  of  Northumberland.     M   E.  C.  Wal- 

cott. 
i.^io     Dilston  Hall.     \V".  S.  Gibson. 


1857 

1852 

1857 

1S5S 

1 89  J 
1854 

1799 
1849 


Battle   and    History   of   Otterburne.     J.    R. 
Smith. 

History  and  Antiquities  of  North  Durham. 
Jas.  Raine. 

Illustrations  of  Alnwick.     Rev.  C.  H,  Harts- 
horne. 

Memoirs  of  the  .Archaeological  Institution  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.    Vols   land  2. 

County  History  of  Northumberland. 

Descriptive      Notices       of      Northumbrian 
Castles. 

History  of  Berwick-on-Tweed.    John  Fuller. 

History     of     Berwick  -  on  -  Tweed.        Fred 
Sheldon. 


Suininav\:  of  Gastlcs 


VOL.    I. 


Kent    . 

Sussex 

Surrey 

Middlesex    . 

Hertfordshire 

Bedfordshire 

Buckinghamshire 

Oxfordshire 

Berkshire    . 

Hampshire 

Wihshire 

Dorsetshire 

Essex  . 

Suffolk 

Norfolk 

Cambridgeshire 

Huntingdonshire 

N<irthaniptonshire 

Warwickshire 

c;loucestershire 

Worcestershire 

Staffordshire 

Leicestershire 

Rutlandshire 

Lincolnshire 

Nottinghamshire 

Derbjshire 


Totals 


47 


i8 

lO 

I 

3 

4 

4 
I 
lo 
i 
5 
4 
8 

4 


5 

2 
I 
8 
I 
3 

io8 


NON- 
EXISTKNT 


5 
3 
4 

2 

2 

8 

9 
I8 

7 
5 
9 
5 
2 
2 
ID 

5 

4 
13 
4 
4 
3 
9 

r> 
I, 

4 
■53 


3° 

l8 

6 

3 
5 

12 
lO 
24 

9 

»7 

13 

12 

8 

II 

17 

5 

5 

9 

18 

9 

7 

II 

13 
3 

17 
8 


308 


VOL.    IL 


Cornwall 

Devonshire 

Somersetshire 

Monmouthshire 

Herefordshire 

Shropshire  . 

Cheshire 

Lancashire 

Yorkshire    . 

Westmorland 

Cumberland 

Durham 

Northumberland 


4 

7 

5 

12 

2 

4 

5 

12 

3 

8 

3 

13 

3 

3 

3 

9 

12 

20 

3 

12 

5 

20 

8 

3 

9 

46 

Totals 

'  '3 

II  ,1 

9 

5 
6 
2 

24 
10 

14 
7 

21 
2 
8 
2 
8 

118 


20 

22 
12 
19 

35 
26 
20 
19 
53 
'7 
33 
>3 
63 

352 


meiit 


ALLIXGTON  (chief) 

OX  the  left  bank  of  the  IVIechvay,  a  little  below  Maidstone,  stood 
originally  a  Saxon  fortress  which  was  razed  by  the  Danes.  After 
the  Conquest  the  place  was  included  among  the  many  grants  of 
land  to  Odo,  Bishop  of  Hayeux,  the  warlike  half-brother  of  William, 
created  Earl  of  Kent,  and  after  his  forfeiture  the  Red  King  gave  it  to  the  great 
Earl  de  Warrenne.  There  are  no  records  of  his  possession  of  the  manor,  nor  of 
anything  regarding,  it  for  over  one  hundred  years,  until  the  year  1224  (8  Henry  III.), 
when,  as  Philipott  tells  us,  a  survey  was  made  of  the  castles  in  England,  and  this 
fortress,  then  a  small  one,  was  possessed  by  William  de  Columhers,  who  was  also 
lord  of  the  manor.  Towards  the  end  of  this  reign  it  was  owned  by  Sir  Stephen 
de  Penchester,  a  descendant  of  the  Paul  de  Penchester  who  in  Domesday  Book 
has  Penshurst,  West  Leigh,  and  other  lands  ;  this  knight  was  married  to  Margaret, 
daughter  of  the  famous  Hubert  de  J^urgh,  Earl  of  Kent,  and  was  Sheriff  of  Kent 
(53  and  54  Henry  HI.),  Constable  of  Dover,  and  Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports. 
He  obtained  (9  Edward  I.  1281)  a  licence  to  erect  and  embattle  a  castle,  granted 
to  Stephaiuis  de  Peiiecestre  "et  Margaretje  uxori  ejus  domum  crencUare,"  &c., 
which  date  must  be  that  of  the  erection  of  Allington  Castle.  He  left  two  daughters, 
tile  elder  of  whom,  Joan,  married  Henry  (or  Stephen),  Lord  Cobham,  and  brought 
this  castle  to  him,  and  it  and  the  manor  flourished  as  .Allington  Cobham  in  that 
fanuly  till  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  when  we  find  them  possessed 
VOL.  I.  A 


2  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

by  one  Brent,  whose  son,  Join.  Brent  (8  Henry  VII.),  alienated  them  to  Sir  Henry 
Wyatt,  a  Privy  Councillor  to  that  Sovereign. 

The  family  of  Wyatt  (spelt  in  various  ways)  was  originally  from  Southange, 
Yorkshire,  and  of  good  standing  (temp.  Edward  III.).  Sir  Henry  was  a  staunch 
Lancastrian,  who  suffered  imprisonment,  and  some  say  torture,  in  the  Tower  (temp. 
Richard  III.),  and  an  old  legend  in  the  family  recounts  how  he  was  preserved 
from  starvation  by  a  cat,  which  brought  him  occasionally  a  pigeon  from  a 
neighbouring  dovecot  that  he  bribed  his  keeper  to  cook  for  him  ;  pictures  of  this 


ALDINGTON 


knight  are  said  to  have  always  a  cat  represented  with  him.  He  was  one  of  the 
councillors  appointed  for  the  management  of  affairs  during  the  minority  of  the 
young  King  Henry,  in  whose  reign  he  distinguished  himself  at  the  Battle  of  Spurs, 
where  he  was  made  a  Banneret  on  the  field  ;  he  filled  the  offices  of  Keeper  of  the 
Jewels  and  King's  Ewerer  to  Henry  VIII.,  and  in  1527  entertained  his  Sovereign  at 
AUington  Castle,  which  estate,  together  with  that  of  the  Mote,  also  near  Maidstone, 
he  had  purchased. 

His  son  was  Thomas  Wyatt,  the  poet  and  wit,  born  1503,  who,  though  a 
courtier  all  his  life  in  the  capricious  favour  of  Henry  VIII.,  and'at  his  dangerous 
court,  yet  managed  to  die  in  his  bed.  A  former  admirer  of  Anne  Boleyn  he  was, 
and  said  to  be  too  friendly  with  her,  yet  just  before  her  death  he  was  knighted  by 
Henry,  and  made  High  Sheriff  of  Kent.     After  a  difficult  embassy  to  the  Emperor 


I 


KENT  3 

Charles  V.,  from  whicli  he  returned  witli  honour  in  1539,  he  was  ill-treated  by  the 
tyrant,  and  on  the  fall  of  Cromwell,  who  was  himself  arrested  at  the  Council  Board, 
having  been  committed  to  the  Tower  he  was  tried  but  acquitted  in  July  1541. 
The  king  then  made  him  keeper  of  the  royal  messuage  at  Maidstone,  and  allowed 
him  to  retire  to  his  home  at  AUington,  where  he  was  at  length  able  to  enjoy 
the  varied  delights  of  country  life,  of  which  he  writes  so  warmly  in  his  poetry. 
But  this  not  for  long,  for  the  next  year  Wyatt  was  sent  by  the  king  to  meet  a 
foreign  embassv  luiexpectedly  arrived  at  Falmouth,  whither  he  hurried  in  a  rapid 
journey  that  proved  fatal  to  him.  Seized  with  fever  at  Sherbtjrne,  he  was  unable 
to  proceed,  and  died  there  after  a  few  days,  in  October  1542,  in  his  thirty-ninth 
year.  From  his  friend  and  brother-poet,  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  we  have  many 
notices  of  Sir  Thomas's  talents,  and  several  of  his  hoii  iiicts  are  related,  by  one  of 
which  he  is  said  to  have  almost  originated  the  Reformation  in  the  mind  of  Henry, 
when,  in  allusion  to  the  king's  compunction  for  his  marriage  with  Katharine  of 
Arragon,  he  said  it  was  a  pity  that  a  man  could  not  repent  of  his  sins  without  the 
permission  of  the  Pope  of  Rome. 

By  his  marriage  with  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Lord  Ccjbham,  he  left  an 
only  child,  the  second  Sir  Thomas,  who  inherited  his  father's  spirit  and 
courage.  In  the  Protestant  conspiracy  against  Mary  and  her  Spanish  marriage, 
which  came  to  a  head  in  January  1554,  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  undertook  to 
raise  the  readily  moved  county  of  Kent,  where  the  county  gentry  were  mostly 
under  his  influence,  and  where  his  uncle.  Lord  Cobham,  was  known  to  be  his 
supporter.  He  called  a  meeting  of  his  friends  at  .Mlington  Castle,  the  result  of 
wliich  was  that  the  rising  was  fixed  for  January  25,  and  that  day  was  ushered  in 
with  the  pealing  of  bells  and  the  issue  of  a  proclamation  by  Wyatt,  to  the  effect 
that  the  Spaniards  were  coming  to  take  the  realm  and  that  all  loyal  Englishmen 
sliDuld  rallv  to  prevent  it.  Tiien  lie  left  the  castle — which  he  never  saw  again — 
and  raised  his  standard  at  Rochester,  where  next  day  he  took  possession  of  some 
of  the  royal  ships  in  the  Medway. 

In  London,  where  the  feeling  against  the  marriage  was  very  strong,  the  Queen 
had  onlv  the  City  musters  to  rely  on,  and  the  retainers  of  her  coimcillors  and 
other  peers  ;  but  500  of  the  former  were  promised  at  once,  and  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk  was  sent  in  advance  of  them,  with  some  guns  and  a  small  force,  to  clieck 
Wyatt  at  Gravesend.  Norfolk  proceeded  to  Strood,  opposite  to  the  Rochester 
bridge,  and  ]ilantcd  his  guns  there,  wlien  word  was  lirought  that  tile  London 
bands  ("  Whitecoats  "  as  they  were  called)  had  deserted,  with  their  captain,  Bret, 
to  the  enemy,  whereon  Norfolk  and  his  supporters  fled  from  the  scene,  leaving 
their  guns  and  stores  for  Wyatt  to  capture.  This  he  did,  and  with  them  and 
his  force  of  2000  men,  t<M]k  the  extraordinary  measure  of  proceeding  to  storm 
his  luicle,  Lord  Cobham's,  house  of  Cooling  (</.?'.),  in  order  to  compel  his 
adhesion  to  the  insurrection.  The  castle  was  taken  after  a  fight  of  several 
hours  and  was  pillaged,  and  Lord  Cobham  and  his  sons  were  carried  away  by 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

4 

Wyatt,  who  proceeded  to  London  and  came  to  Southwark,  where  he  demanded 

the  custody  of  the  Tower  and  of  the  Queen's  person. 

Mary's  position  was  critical  :  slie  sent  away  the  Spanish  ambassadors,  and, 
riding  to  tlie  Guildhall,  she  liarangued  the  citizens  in  a  speech,  "in  her  deep 
man's  voice,"  which  liad  a  great  success,  the  corporation  vowing  to  support  her 
with  25,000  men,  wlio  were  enrolled  next  day ;  ;4'ioo  being  offered  for  Wyatt's 
capture.  Then  a  reaction  set  in,  and  \\'yatt  met  with  a  favourable  reception  at 
Southwark,  where,  however,  he  found  the  drawbridge  cut  off  in  the  long  street 
leading  thence  over  London  Bridge,  and  guns  laid  to  receive  him  ;  and  he 
therefore  moved  his  forces  in  order  to  march  round  by  Kingston.  Here  he  found 
thirty  feet  of  the  bridge  cut  away,  and  it  was  not  till  the  night  of  P^ebruary  7 
that  alter  repairing  the  bridge  with  lighters  and  planks,  he  was  able  to  cross  and 
proceed,  with  some  1500  men,  towards  London.  Meanwhile  a  panic  prevailed 
here,  and  at  4  A.M.  on  the  7th  the  train-bands  were  drummed  up  to  muster  at 
Charing  Cross.  The  Queen  was  implored  to  leave  Whitehall  for  the  Tower  or 
Windsor,  but  she  declared  her  intention  of  remaining  at  the  palace.  By  8  A.M. 
more  tlian  10,000  men  were  under  arms  in  the  open  fields  to  the  west  of 
the  town  ;  and  at  the  old  Cross,  which  stood  at  the  top  of  St.  James's  Street,  a 
battery  of  gims  was  drawn  up,  while  a  strong  force  of  mounted  gentlemen 
advanced  to  Hyde  Park  Corner.  Delaying  foolishly  at  Brentford  about  a  broken- 
down  gun  for  two  hours,  which  were  all-important  to  him,  Sir  Thomas  brought 
his  tired  troops  at  9  o'clock  straggling  along  the  road  where  Piccadilly  now  is  ; 
and  here,  in  what  is  now  Park  Lane,  were  drawn  up  a  troop  of  horse,  who,  after 
the  half  of  Wyatt's  force  had  passed  along,  fell  upon  their  line  and  captured  all 
the  rear  half. 

Sir  Tiiomas,  however,  with  Knyvett  and  the  two  sons  of  Lord  Cobham,  pressed 
on,  and  overpowering  the  battery  at  the  Cross,  passed  down  the  street  where 
Pall  Mall  is,  and  approached  Charing  Cross,  while  part  of  his  column  went  round 
to  Whitehall.  Here  a  frightened  guard  had  taken  refuge  within  doors,  and  Mary 
had  herself  to  come  forth  to  infuse  any  spirit  of  resistance  into  the  knaves. 
Anything  was  possible  at  this  moment  for  a  well-managed  attack,  but  the  rebels 
contented  themselves  with  shooting  a  few  arrows  at  the  palace,  and  then  went  on 
to  overtake  their  leader  at  Charing  Cross,  where  they  found  themselves  beset  by 
a  strong  body  of  archers,  and  after  a  sharp  fight  the  whole  party  was  dispersed. 

Wyatt  and  about  300  men  still  pushed  on  up  the  Strand,  the  lines  of  troops 
and  the  crowd  opening  to  let  lum  pass  as  far  as  Ludgate,  where  the  gates  were 
closed  agamst  him.  His  case  was  now  hopeless  and  desperate,  and  he  dismounted 
and  sat  down  on  a  bench  outside  the  Belle  Sauvage  Inn  on  the  hill  side,  and  then 
with  only  twenty-four  men— for  the  rest  had  been  hustled  or  had  deserted- 
retraced  his  steps  to  Temple  Bar,  where  he  was  forced  to  yield  himself,  together 
with  Knyvett,  Bret,  and  one  of  the  Cobhams.  Thence  they  were  brought  to 
Whitehall  Stairs,  and  the  Queen  beheld  them  borne  oH  m  a  barge  to  the  Tower. 


KENT  5 

Sir  Tliomas  was  executed  on  April  ii,  declaring,  before  his  death,  both  the 
Princess  EHzabeth  and  Coiirtenay,  Earl  of  Devonshire,  to  be  innocent  of  any 
participation  in  the  plot. 

Allington  then  became  vested  in  the  Crown,  and  Elizabeth  in  her  eleventh 
vear,  j,'ranted  the  castle  on  lease  to  John  Astley,  Master  of  her  Jewels,  whose  son, 
Sir  John  Astley,  dying  s.p.,  the  property  passed  to  Jacob,  created  Lord  Astley  by 
Charles  1.  at  Oxf(jrd  ;  from  his  descendant  it  was  bought  by  Sir  Robert  Marsham, 
and  thence  was  added  to  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Romney.  The  Astleys  left  it 
in  order  to  live  at  Maidstone,  and  then  the  old  fabric  fell  into  decay,  and  its  park, 
disparked,  was  turned  into  aiahlc  land. 

Buck's  drawing  (published  1774)  shows  the  castle  standing  in  a  low-lying  and 
wooded  country,  close  to  a  bend  of  the  Medway  flowing  on  its  S.  and  E.  sides  ; 
between  the  river  and  the  ruins  is  the  walled  moat,  nearly  encircling  the  castle. 
The  great  entrance  gatehouse  is  at  the  W.  end,  flanked  by  two  lofty  circular  towers, 
and  at  the  opposite  end,  (jutside,  is  a  strong  circular  water-tower,  commanding 
the  river.  The  castle  formed  a  large  parallelogram,  divided  into  two  courts  ;  that 
on  the  N.  being  the  latest  built — perhaps  by  the  Wyatts.  On  the  river  side  the 
walls  are  high,  and  are  defended  at  intervals  by  circular  buttressed  towers  ;  at  the 
S.W.  angle  of  the  inner  court  is  an  old  round  tower,  which  served  as  a  keep, 
being  probably  the  one  said  by  Grose  to  have  been  built  by  Sir  Stephen  de 
Penchester,  and  called  "  Solomon's  Tower."  The  hall  and  chapel  were  in  the 
S.  front.  The  two  courts  are  separated  by  low  buildings  and  an  arched 
entrance  ;  and  a  great  part  of  the  structure  has  been  used  in  converting  a  portion 
into  a  farmhouse  with  gabled  roofs  and  porches,  as  shown  in  Grose's  drawings. 


B  A  Y  F  O  R  D  {non-existent) 

IX  the  marshes  near  Sittingbourne  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  encampment 
said  to  have  been  formed  by  King  Alfred,  and  in  later  times  occupied  by  a 
castle.  Hasted  says  that  the  Danes,  coming  up  the  Thames  in  893,  built  a  fort  on 
Kemsley  Downs,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  chiuch  issuing  whence  they 
ravaged  and  plundered  the  country  around  in  a  merciless  way.  Bayford  is  on 
the  other  side  of  the  creek  from  Kemsley,  and  may  have  been  formed  to  check 
the  enemy.  In  after-times  the  fortihed  manor-house  was  the  residence  of 
the  successive  families  of  Leybourne,  de  Nottingham,  Cheyney,  and  Lovelace, 
until  the  end  of  the  si.xteenth  century,  when  the  castle  had  become  a  farmhouse. 
Temp.  Edward  1.  it  was  the  seat  of  Robert  de  Nottingham,  whose  descendant 
was  Sheriff  of  Kent  (48  Edward  III.).  A  moat,  or  some  ditches,  with  a  fragment 
of  stonework,  alone  remain. 


6  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

CANTERBURY  {mmor) 

1/  ILBURN,  in  his  Survey,  states  that  a  castle  here  was  burnt  and  razed  by 
\\  tlK-  Danes,  and  continued  in  ruins  till  after  the  Conquest,  when 
William  I.  erected  the  existing  one  upon  the  former  site,  naming  it  the 
"  New  Castle,"  to  which  the  name  "  Lodan's  Castle "  was  also  given,  and 
placing  in  it  a  garrison  of  700  men,  to  keep  under  the  men  of  Kent.  The  castle 
is  mentioned  in  i  William  II.  ;  and  in  the  reign  of  Stephen,  William  d'Ypres,  Earl 
of  Kent,  who  was  that  king's  captain  of  mercenaries,  was  its  governor.  From  the 
time   of   Richard    I.  to   that  of   John,  the  custody  of   Canterbury  was   held   by 


;#\ilii/iW\">)iMV;^^ 


CANTERBURY 


Tlicoricus  le  Vineter.  Henrv  II.  had  increased  the  extent  of  the  fortress  and  its 
defences  by  the  addition  of  some  lands  in  the  vicinity,  and  it  was  then  probably 
a  strong  place  ;  but  when  Louis  the  Dauphin  arrived,  in  12 16,  in  the  Isle  of 
Thanet,  he  came  on  to  Canterbury,  and  received  the  submission  both  of  the  city 
and  its  castle.  Early  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  Hubert  de  Burgh  had  the 
custody  of  it,  and  later  the  place  seems  to  have  become  a  common  prison  ;  and 
although  early  in  the  reign  of  Edward  11.  orders  were  sent  to  the  sheriff  to  fur- 
nish this  castle  with  provisions  and  munitions  of  war,  still  it  continued  as  the 
chief  prison  of  the  county  from  those  times  till  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  or 
Elizabeth,  when  the  gaol  was  removed  elsewhere.  It  was  at  one  time  the  custom 
for  prisoners  to  sit  in  the  barbican  and  beg  from  the  passers-by  ;  many  Jews  were 
conlined  here,  and  Plot  states  that  in  his  time  (1672)  there  remained  some 
versicles  of  the  Psalms  inscribed  by  them  on  the  wall  of  the  N.E.  staircase. 

There  are  scarcely  any  historical  notices  recorded  of  Canterbury  Castle.     It 


KENT  7 

lies  on  the  S.W.  of  tlic  citv,  ;uk1  coinmanded  tlic  ;ippro;icli  by  tlie  Stone  Street. 
The  Conqueror  appears  to  have  obtained  tiie  site  by  exchange  with  the  Arch- 
bishop and  the  Abbot  of  St.  Augustine's  Monastery.  The  ancient  Roman  brick 
archway,  called  the  Worth  Gate,  adjoined  the  castle  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Roman  causeway  to  the  Fortus  Lemanis,  or  Lymne,  called  the  Stone  Street,  by 
which  the  knights  rode  in  to  the  nuirder  of  Becket,  as  is  related  in  tlie  account  of 
Saltwood  Castle  ((/.;•.).  This  splendid  specimen  of  a  Roman  arcii  was  cleared 
away  at  the  end  of  the  last  century.  Stukeley  writes  in  its  praise.  It  was  built 
up  at  the  time  of  Wyatt's  insurrection,  in  1554,  for  the  security  of  the  castle 
and  city. 

The  area  covered  by  the  castle  contained  4I  acres,  and  the  later  city  wall  was 
built  50  feet  beyond  it,  this  ancient  w.iU,  which  included  the  Worth  Gate,  form- 
ing the  S.  ballium  or  bailey  of  the  castle.  A  deep  ditch  surrounded  the  enclosure, 
outside  of  which  was  a  barbican  with  a  thick  wall,  defended  by  four  towers,  and 
the  passage  to  the  town  from  the  gatehouse  lay  over  a  drawbridge.  The  wall  and 
ditch  were  both  in  existence  in  1792,  when  they  were  demolished  to  give  place  to 
some  buildings,  the  ditch  being  filled  in. 

Nothing  remains  now  but  the  great  Norman  keep,  measuring  88  feet  by  80 
feet,  being  the  third  largest  now  standing  in  England.  It  is  complete,  though 
ruinous  ;  the  corners  are  supported  by  strong  pilasters,  of  which  there  are  also 
two  along  each  front;  the  walls  are  11  feet  thick,  and  about  50  feet  in  height, 
with  line  windows  in  llic  upper,  or  state  storev,  oiiianiented,  as  at  Rochester,  with 
Norman  chevron  work.  Inside  theie  are  tw(j  partition  walls,  with  arches  to  allow 
of  communication,  and,  as  at  Rochester  and  Dover,  the  well  is  brought  up  through 
the  wall  in  a  shaft,  with  openings  on  each  floor  for  supplying  water.  There  are  also 
a  mural  gallerv  and  spiral  staircases,  one  of  these  descending  to  the  basement. 
The  entrance  was  at  the  X.  end,  high  up  on  the  second  floor,  where  appears  a 
large  arch  closed  up.  A  projecting  fore-building,  as  at  Dover  and  l^ochester, 
containing  a  grand  staircase  and  rooms,  led  up  to  this  doorway,  which  is  iinely 
ornamented  inside  ;  the  foundations  of  this  foie-building  may  still  be  traced. 

The  property  of  the  castle  and  grounds  seems  to  have  continued  with  the 
Crown  till  the  end  of  the  reign  of  James  1.,  who  granted  it  to  one  Watson,  in 
whose  family  it  continued  for  more  than  one  hundred  years,  when  it  was  sold, 
and  it  has  since  passed  to  nianv  owners.  It  is  now  a  jxut  of  the  town  gas  works. 
The  "  Dane  John  "  hill,  about  300  vards  distant,  and  within  the  walls  of  the  city, 
does  not  seem  to  have  had  any  connection  with  the  castle. 

An  engraving  of  the  tower,  given  in  "Vestiges  of  Antiquity, "  by  T.  Hastings, 
folio,  published  1813,  shows  the  front  of  a  square  Norman  keep,  with  slightly 
projecting  corner  pilasters,  forming  the  corner  turrets,  and  two  central  pilasters, 
all  having  ashlar  groins.  The  tower  is  demolished  in  the  middle  of  the  upper  or 
third  stage,  and  shows  circular  headed  Late  Norman  winch iws.  There  are  no 
lights  in  the  basement  or,  rather,  the  grcnuid  floor. 


CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 


CHILHAM   {minor) 


THIS  ruined  castle  stands  on  high  ground,  over  tlie  valley  of  the  Stour, 
about  seven  miles  S.W.  from  Canterbury.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  deep 
ditch  enclosing  an  area  of  eight  acres.  Originally  a  stronghold  of  the  Saxon 
kings  of  Kent,  it  was  founded  by  one  of  these,  a  convert  to  Christianity,  in 
what  had  been  a  Kom.ui  camp.  The  Conqueror  granted  the  place  and 
lands  to  Bishop  Odo,  and  after  his  fall  they  were  given  to  a  Norman  knight 
named  Kulbert,  who,  being  one  of  the  eight  knights  of  Dover,  assumed  that 
name,  his  fanuly  name  being  Lucy  (Harris).  His  son  Richard  dying  5./..,  King 
lohn.'by  charter  in  his  sixteenth  year,  restored  Chilham  to  Fulbert's  daughter 
and  lieir,  Roesia  de  Dover,  who  was  married  to  Richard  Fitzroy,  the  king's 
natural  son.  They  had  two  daughters,  one  of  whom,  Lora,  was  wife  to  William 
^Iarmion,  and  the  other,  Isabel,  married  (first)  David  de  Strathbolgy,  Earl  of 
Athol  with  issue,  and  (secondly)  Sir  Alexander  de  Baliol,  who  was  summoned  to 
Parliament,  7';/ rc  nxorh,  as  the  lord  of  Chilham.  Isabel  died  at  Chilham  in  1292, 
seised  of  the  barony  of  Chilham  and  the  church  of  Charlton,  and  is  buried  in  the 
crypt  of  Canterburv  Cathedral  (Weever).  John,  Eai'l  of  Athol,  her  son  by 
her  first  husband,  was  condenmed  for  treason  (34  Edward  I.),  and  hanged  by 
that  king  at  Canterbury  upon  a  gibbet  fifty  feet  high,  he  being  "of  nobler 
blood,  being  of  the  king's  blood  ; "  he  was  cut  down  alive  and  beheaded,  and 
his  body  burnt,  and  his  estates,  inclusive  of  Chilham,  which  he  inherited  at 
his  mother  Isabel's  death,  as  the  caput  htiroiii<c,  were  confiscated  by  the 
Crown.  Edward  II.,  in  his  fifth  year,  granted  the  castle  and  manor  to  "the  rich 
lord,"  Bartholomew  de  Badlesmere,  of  Leeds,  or  Ledes,  Castle,  Kent  (q.v.),  and 
on  his  attainder,  they  were  given  to  David  de  Strathbolgy,  the  grandson  of  the 
former  Earl,  during  his  lifetime,  reverting  at  his  death  to  the  Crown.  Afterwards, 
coming  into  the  possession  of  William,  Lord  de  Roos  of  Hamlake,  when  his 
descendant  Thomas,  Lord  Roos,  was  attainted  after  Towton  (i  Edward  IV.),  the 
property  was  again  seized  and  given  for  life  to  Sir  John  Scott,  a  Privy  Councillor. 
Reverting  again  to  the  Crown,  at  last  Henry  VIII.  granted  the  Honour,  Castle, 
Lordship,  and  Manor  of  Chylham  to  Sir  Thomas  Cheyney,  Warden  of  the  Cinque 
Ports.  This  knight  resided  long  here,  and  added  much  to  the  buildings, 
strengthening  the  defences,  and  increasing  the  comfort  of  the  Castle. 

The  present  house,  which  is  close  to  the  old  fabric,  is  a  good  specimen  of  a 
Jacobean  mansion,  built  in  1616.  In  1752  it  came  to  the  Colebrooks,  and  thence 
to  the  Herons  and  Wildmans  ;  it  was  nov,'  the  property  of  Lieut.-Col.  C.  S. 
Hardy. 

The  only  part  of  the  old  Norman  castle  now  standing  in  at  all  a  perfect  state 
is  the  ancient  octagonal  keep,  three  storeys  in  height,  in  the  N.W.  angle. 


KENT  9 

COLERRIDCtE   (minor) 

A  STRONG  castle  stood  liere  below  the  liill  towards  Ejjerton,  in  tlie  parish  of 
Boiij,'htoii  Malherbe.  Fiilk  de  Peyforer  had  a  charter  of  free-warren  for 
his  lands  in  Colewchrij^j^c  in  32  Edward  1.,  and  a},'ain  a  licence  to  crenellate  his 
house  there  in  7  F^dward  II.  Soon  after  this  it  seems  to  have  passed  to  the  family 
of  Leybourne,  who  were  old  settlers  in  this  parish;  but  in  28  Edward  111., 
William  de  Clinton,  Earl  of  Huntinj^don,  died  possessed  of  it  thronj^h  his  wife 
Juliana,  daughter  of  Thomas  de  Leybourne.  His  wife  outlived  him,  her  fourth 
husband,  and  died  owner  ol  this  castle  as  of  Leybourne  Castle  (</.;•.),  in 
41  Edwaid  111.  Xi)  direct  heir  to  liL-r  estates  being  forthcoming,  this  manor, 
with  the  rest,  was  t,sclieated  to  the  Crown,  and  thus  continued  till  the  beginning  of 
the  reign  of  Richard  11.,  when  it  became  vested  in  John,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  in 
trust  for  certain  n.-ligious  bcLiuests  under  the  will  of  King  Edward  111.;  and  in 
21  Richard  11.  was  conveyed  to  the  dean  and  canons  of  Westminster,  in  whose 
possession  it  remained  till  i  Edward  VI.  He  granted  Colebridge  to  Sir  Edward 
Wotton  of  the  Houghton  estates,  whose  foitunes  it  followed  down  to  Philip,  Earl 
of  Chesterfield,  in  1750,  when  that  nobleman  sold  the  property,  with  the  rest  of 
the  Wotton  estates,  to  Walter  Mann,  father  of  Sir  Horace  Mann,  the  correspondent 
of  Horace  Walpole. 

The  scanty  remains  of  this  castle  still  indicate  its  having  been  a  place  of 
considerable  stix-ngth,  and  Harris  savs  that  the  materials  of  it  were  used  to  build 
the  mansion  of  Boughton  Place,  at  Chilston  in  the  same  parish.  This  may  have 
been  effected  therefore  bv  Robert  Corbye,  who  built  and  embattled  Boughton  in 
36  Edward  111.,  which  would  lix  the  date  of  the  demolition  of  Colebridge. 

COOLING,    OR    COWLING   {mimr) 

THE  railway  which  now  runs  eastward  from  Gravesend  to  a  new  pier  and 
harbour  called  Port  Victoria,  at  the  E.  extremity  of  the  Isle  of  Grain, 
passes,  at  about  one  mile  E.  of  Cliffe,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Cobham  family, 
called  at  that  time  Coulvng  Castle.  The  manor  is  said  to  have  been  purchased  for 
400  marks  (about  X6700  of  our  monev)  bv  Sir  John  de  Cobham,  who  died  in 
1252.  At  that  time  no  castle  existed,  but  theie  was  a  stately  manor  house 
within  a  demesne  of  more  than  700  acres  ;  and  the  Cobhams  held  this  property 
from  that  time  till  the  reign  of  James  1.,  a  period  of  more  than  350  years.  The 
whole  estate  is  described  in  an  inquisition  held  in  1300,  after  the  death  of  Sir 
John,  son  of  the  founder,  and  father  of  Henry,  first  Lord  Cobham.  Edward  1. 
and  his  son  held  this  Sir  John  in  such  high  esteem,  that  a  Mass  was  said  before 
Prince  Edward  in  his  Chapel  Royal  for  the  soul  of  the  dead  knight  upon  his 
burial  day. 

The  castle  was  erected  under  a  licence  to  crenellate,  of  3  Richard   II.  (13S0), 
yOL.  1.  B 


,o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

j<rintcd  t..  jolKinnes  dc  CobelKi.n,  third  Baron  Cohham,  a  munificent  patron  of 
tlK-  Iniildinj;  art.  He  first  founded  a  cliantry  at  Cobham,  the  place  from  which 
tlie  name  xvas  derived,  between  Gravesend  and  Rochester,  and  where  the  family 
was  founded  in  the  twelfth  century  by  one  Serlo  de  Cobham,  whose  son  Henry 
purchased  that  manor.  Here  he  also  repaired  several  churches,  and,  after 
..btaining  his  licence,  erected  this  castle  for  the  safety  of  the  district,  which  had 
been  -reatly  disturbed,  first  by  the  Kentish  rebellion  of  Wat  Tyler,  and  m  1379  by 

an  invasion  of  the  French,  who 
landing  in  these  parts,  ravaged  the 
country  as  far  as  Gravesend.  The 
building  was  completed  in  1385. 

The    fortress   consisted    of    two 

quadrangular   enclosures,   built    fair 

^    -   ^  .  with  the  compass,  of  curtain  walls 

I  «J   ;  I      /         and    corner    towers,     entirely    sur- 

f^  ^Ol     Modern,  ho^^cs     I     /         rouudcd  bybi'oadand  deep  moats ; 

the  larger  enceinte,  on  the  E.,  or 
outer  ward,  having  a  great  gatehouse 
of  entrance  at  its  S.W.  angle,  and 
at  the  other  corners  large  semi- 
circular headed  turrets  or  bastions, 
open  at  the  gorge.  The  \V.  front 
was  of  greater  length  than  the  one 
on  the  E.,  and  in  the  centre  of  it 
was  an  opening  opposite  to  the  entrance  gateliouse  of  the  inner  ward,  to  which  a 
drawbridge  across  the  intervening  moat  gave  access.  This  inner  ward  or  court 
was  a  smaller  square  enclosure,  with  curtain  walls  and  corner  bastions  like  the 
outer  ;  no  strong  building  or  keep  tower  existed  in  it,  but  there  were  dwellings 
attached  to  the  walls.     The  old  manor  house  was  contained  in  the  outer  ballium. 

Thirteen  years  after  completing  his  fortress.  Sir  John  Cobham,  for  opposing 
the  tyranny  of  Richard  II.,  was  tried  for  high  treason  and  condemned  to  a 
traitor's  death,  though  an  old  man  over  eighty  years  of  age.  But  the  king 
conceded  to  iiini  the  life  he  no  longer  valued,  banishing  him  to  Guernsey  and 
seizing  his  property,  which,  on  the  accession  of  Henry  IV.,  was  restored,  and 
Cobham  was  recalled.  He  enjoyed  his  estates  for  another  ten  years,  dying  in 
1408  at  the  age  of  near  a  hundred  years,  when  his  granddaughter  Joan  came  into 
the  property,  being  thirty  years  of  age,  and  made  Coulyng  her  chief  residence. 
After  losing  three  husbands,  she  married,  as  the  fourth,  Sir  John  Oldcastle,  of 
Almely,  Herefordshire  (</.!■.),  the  Lollard  martyr,  who,  in  her  right,  became  Lord 
Cobham.  The  name  of  this  great  man  is  indissolubly  connected  with  Cooling; 
lor  although  lie  could  not  have  actually  lived  there  more  than  five  years,  "his 
noble  stand  for  Christian  truth  and  for  liberty  of  conscience  bestowed  so  great  a 


COOLING 


KENT  II 

benefit  on  posterity,"  tliat  his  memory  is  more  indelibly  impressed  upon  Cooling 
than  that  of  any  other  of  its  possessors. 

Sir  John  Oldcastle  was  one  of  the  early  leaders  of  the  reforming  party,  and 
was  at  great  expense  in  collecting  and  transcribing  the  works  of  Wicklyffe, 
which  he  dispersed  among  the  people,  maintaining  itinerant  preachers  in  many 
parts  of  the  country.  This,  of  course,  animated  the  clergy  against  him,  and  they 
eventually  destroyed  him.  He  was  a  great  and  able  soldier,  and  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  IV.  commanded  an  English  army  in  France,  which  obliged  the  Duke  of 
Orleans  to  raise  the  siege  of  Paris.  He  also  served  with  Henry  \'.,  and  was 
attached  to  his  court.  This  king  did  at  fust  hinder  the  attack  of  the  clerical 
party  on  Oldcastle,  but  when  in  discussion  with  him  regarding  the  supremacy  of 
the  Pope  he  called  the  Pontiff  the  Anti-Christ  of  Revelation,  the  king  turned  away 
from  iiini  shocked,  and  withdrew  in  displeasure,  leaving  his  old  companion-in- 
arms to  the  teudei-  mercies  of  his  enemies,  who  got  him  condemned  as  a  heretic, 
and  committed  him  to  the  Tower.  He  managed  to  escape,  however,  into  Wales, 
where  he  carried  on  his  work  of  reformation.  Then  the  clerics  worked  on  the 
king  by  a  story  that  Lord  Cobham  was  leading  an  army  of  20,000  Lollards  against 
the  Crown,  and  tluiugh  an  assembly  of  only  one  Jumdred  persons  was  found,  and 
these  collected  merely  for  devotion,  Henry  was  led  to  issue  an  attainder,  and  set 
a  price  on  Cobham's  head  of  1000  marks  (about  _^' 10,000  of  our  currency).  At 
last,  after  four  years'  hiding  in  Wales,  his  enemies  captured  the  good  man,  and 
bringing  him  to  London,  dragged  him  to  execution  in  St.  Giles'  Fields.  They 
hung  him  in  chains  from  a  gibbet  alive,  and  then  lighting  a  fire  beneath,  burnt 
him  to  death  :  and  this  on  Christmas  Day,  1417.  He  was  a  man  of  much  learning 
and  talent,  and  his  greatness  of  soul  would  not  brook  concessions  to  tenets  which 
he  thought  false,  (Chambers.) 

After  this,  his  widow  Joan  consoled  herself  with  a  fifth  husband,  Sir  John 
Harpenden,  who,  although  he  lived  at  Cooling  three  times  as  long  as  Oldcastle,  is 
not  recalled  in  memory. 

The  most  remarkable  event  in  the  history  of  this  castle  is  its  assault  and 
capture  by  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  in  January  1554,  its  then  owner,  the  Lord  of 
Cobham  and  Coulvng,  being  George  Brooke,  whose  sister  was  Wyatt's  mother.  It 
appears  that  the  original  intention  in  Wyatt's  mind  was  to  make  an  armed 
demonstration,  in  ordei-  to  iirevent  the  ni.uiiage  of  Queen  Mary  with  Philip  of 
Spain  ;  but  his  movement  was  rebellion  in  the  eve  of  the  law,  and  certainly  grew 
into  this.  Wvatt  defeated,  near  Ciraveseiitl,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  his  small 
force  of  "  Wliitecoats"  sujiplied  from  London,  who,  iiiuler  Captain  Bret,  went 
over  to  him  ;  tlun  the  insurgents,  seizing  the  Duke's  si.\  guns,  brought  them  on 
to  the  assault  of  Cooling  Castle.  \  full  report  of  this  siege,  written  by  Lord 
Cobham  to  the  Queen,  is  extant,  from  which  it  appears  that  Wyatt's  force,  2000 
strong,  came  before  the  castle  at  eleven  o'clock  A.M.,  and  battered  the  great 
entrance  of  the  outer  ward  with  two  great  guns,  while  the  other  four  were  laid 


,2  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

a-Minst  aiiothcT  side  of  tlic  castle.  Lord  Cobham  defended  his  house  with  ins 
three  sons  and  a  handful  of  men  till  five  o'clock  m  the  evening,  having  no 
weapons  hut  four  or  five  hand-guns  ;  several  of  his  men  had  then  been  killed, 
the  ammunition  was  nearly  expended,  and  the  gates  and  drawbridge  so  injured  that 
his  men  began  to  murmur  and  mutiny.  So  he  was  obliged  to  yield.  In  spite  of 
this  gallant' defence,  he  and  his  sons  were  sent  to  the  Tower,  where  the  name  of 
his  younger  son  still  appears  carved  on  a  window  of  the  Beauchamp  Tower  : 
"Thomas    Cobliam,    1555."     They   were,    however,    released    in    the    following 

.\rarch. 

Some  stone  and  iron  cannon-balls  have  been  found  in  the  moat  among  the 
fallen  masonry  of  the  \V.  wall  of  the  outer  court.  It  seems  as  if  Wyatt  effected 
an  entrance  into  this  ward,  and  was  successfully  battering  the  gatehouse  of  the 
inner  court,  across  the  moat,  when  Cobham  capitulated.  After  this  Cooling  was 
probably  seldom  used,  and  was  suiTered  to  fall  into  ruin,  after  an  existence  of 
little  more  than  200  years.  The  park,  however,  was  long  maintained,  and  the 
magnificent  mansion  of  Cobham  Hall  was  built  between  1584  and  1603. 

The  great  gatehouse  at  the  S.W.  angle  of  the  outer  court  is  literally  perfect. 
It  has  two  lofty  semi-circular  flanking  towers,  heavily  machicolated,  and  a 
portcullis.  The  arched  gateway,  15  feet  high,  was  closed  by  heavy  doors, 
the  four  iron  gudgeons  of  which  are  still  remaining,  and  the  entrance  was  also 
defended  bv  a  number  of  apertures,  called  uiciivtricrcs,  3  feet  long  and  i  foot 
broad,  and  bv  loops.  Upon  the  E.  tower  is  still  a  copper  plate  with  Lord 
Cobham's  well-known  inscription,  or  charter,  with  his  seal  attached,  and  in  these 
words  : 

Hvnoutoeti)  tljnt  Ijetlj  anb  scljal  bf 

3Cf)at  E  am  mail  in  Ijclp  of  tfjc  cuntvc 

En  fjnoirnng;  of  intjorije  tijgng 

Sljgs  10  tljattvt  anb  mgtiuBSgng. 

(Seal,  Gules  a  chevron  or,  and  three  lions  rampant  sable.) 

On  entering  the  outer  enclosure,  the  modern  buildings  and  farm  are  found  to 
block  the  area,  and  proceeding  to  the  centre  of  the  \V.  wall  we  pass  over  the  dry 
moat  into  the  inner  ward,  the  walls  of  which  are  built  of  chalkstone  faced  with 
rag  and  flints  in  chess-board  pattern.  Here  in  the  N.E.  corner  was  a  great 
chamber,  or  hall,  part  of  the  vaulted  crypt  of  which  alone  remains.  The  corner 
bastion  has  disappeared,  but  seems  to  have  been  hexagonal  internally ;  the 
walls  are  from  15  to  27  feet  in  height.  Of  this  gatehouse  the  circular 
fronts  of  its  two  lowers  remain,  with  the  axle-bearings  of  the  drawbridge, 
the  portcullis  groove  and  loopholes.  The  dwellings  can  be  traced  by  their 
foundations.  In  the  S.E.  corner  is  a  curious  square  chamber  with  staircase  dov.m 
to  the  vaults,  and  a  pointed  window  over  the  moat,  which  has  been  walled  up  ;  it 
is  suggested  that  this  has  contained  a  bath  like  the  one  at  Leeds  Castle.     There 


KENT 


13 


was  a  \vater-j,'atc  in  tlic  \V.  wall,  cloNr  \n  tlic  X.W.  tower,  and  here  the  remains  of 
a  small  boat  Iiave  been  du;;  up. 


DEAL   {ttiitior) 

THIS  fort,  or  blockhouse,  was  built  by  Henry  Vlil.  in    1539,  at  tiie  same  time 
as  were  those  of  Walnier   and  Sandown,  on   eitlier   side  f)f  it,   and   is  of 
much  the  same  eharactei',  thouj^li   somewhat  more  comiilicated  and  stronj,'er.      in 


liEAl, 

the  centre  is  a  massive  round  tower,  carried  up  with  a  square  front  to  seaward,  its 
foot  heinj4  supported  by  four  low  semicircular  bomb-proofs  ;  an  area,  or  ditch, 
divides  tliis  fiom  a  girdle  of  six  semi- 
circular lunettes,  two  of  which  are 
merely  the  ct)unterscai-p  walls,  tiie 
others  bein^  low  casemated  bomb- 
pioof  iiatteries,  with  embrasures  for 
J4uns.  The  whole  is  suriouncled  bv 
a  ditch  and  counterscaip  wall,  built 
with  six  sef,'ments  concentric  with 
the  inleiior  buildiii.L;^,  and  lilted  with 
a  drawbridj^e.  It  stands  close  to  the 
S.  end  of  tiie  town  of  Deal,  and  im- 
mediately above  iii^h  water  line. 

Before  these  foils  were  erected  .il 
Deal  and  Walmer,  there  existed  be- 
tween tliem  two  eminences  of  eartli- 

work,  called  the  (inuilcr  and  the  Acocr  /i;//;>v;;/>-s,  and  there  was  a  third  between 
tile  X.  end  of  Deal  and  Sandown  Castle  ;  also  one  about  the  middle  of  the  town. 


DE.\L 


CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 
'4 

•uKl  two  otliers  on  tlie  sites  of  these  forts,  all  having  gun  embrasures.     These 

six  works  formed  a  line  of  batteries  to  defend  that  low  part  of  the  coast,   in 

front  of  wiiieh  was  slieltered  and  deep  water,  and  to  hinder  the  disembarkation  of 

a    hostile   force   along   this   shore.      It   has   been    demonstrated   with    sufhcient 

"clearness  that   it  was  upon  this  particular  point  of  Kent  that  the  first  landing 

of  'ca>sar  in  Britain  took  place  (.src  W.almer).     Hasted  gives  an   engraving  of 

Deal  Castle  as  it  appeared  in   1640  ;  it  has  always  contained  handsome  quarters 

for  a  governor  and  staff. 

P^ir  further  accounts  of  these  si.xteenth  century    forts,  see   also  Hants  and 

DOKSKT. 

DOVER  (chie/) 

Till-:  tradition  of  a  strong  British,  or  Celtic,  fortress  having  occupied  the 
iiigh  clil'f  of  Dover  is  justified  by  still  existing  traces,  and  here,  as  else- 
where, the  Romans,  taking  possession  of  the  earlier  position,  established  a  camp, 
or  castrum  ;  their  Pharos,  with  its  base  of  Roman  masonry,  still  standing  in 
proof  of  their  occupation,  while  the  lines  of  the  castrum  can  be  partly  traced  to 
this  day. 

Saxon  times  have  left  but  small  records  on  these  heights  ;  but  that  a  strong 
fortaliee,  probably  of  timber  and  some  masonry,  existed  inside  the  Roman  work, 
is  evident  from  the  undertaking  made  by  Harold,  when  in  the  power  of  Duke 
William,  to  deliver  to  him  this  castle  with  its  well,  showing  how  William's  mind 
had  long  been  set  on  acquiring  the  important  post  of  Dover.  But  all  vestiges  of 
this  primitive  foi'tress  have  vanished,  save  in  the  foimdation  of  a  strong  rubble 
rampart  which  runs  along  the  upper  edge  of  the  Roman  work. 

The  Saxon  work  was  tormed  between  the  existing  Inner  Ward  and  the  edge  of 
the  cliff  towards  the  S.W.,  and  included  in  a  broad  circular  sweep  of  wall  the 
Pharos  and  the  early  clnuch.  Its  approach  was  on  the  S.W.  towards  the  same 
Colton  Tower  through  which  the  visitor  enters  to-day,  and  there  was  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  enceinte,  northwards,  a  more  strongly  fortified  gatehouse  with 
its  great  well  (the  same  being  still  in  use  on  the  parade  ground),  with  its  "Well  " 
towers  and  gateway. 

There  were  afterwards  three  other  towers  erected  on  this  southern  side  of  the 
Saxon  fort,  outside  of  it  and  detached.  The  one  on  the  E.  which  defended  Earl 
Godwin's  Entrance  on  that  side,  was  square  and  was  called  after  Sir  Geoffry 
Clinton,  treasurer  to  Henry  I.  This  tower,  or  its  foundations,  remained  till 
1794.  The  next  was  a  drum  tower  at  the  salient  of  the  enclosure,  at  edge  of  cliff, 
bearing  the  name  of  Sir  William  Valence,  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  and  was 
afterwards  called  the  Mill  Tower.  The  third  was  on  the  S.W\,  a  heavy  work  in 
front  of  the  Colton  Gateway,  named  after  Sir  Ralph  Mortimer,  who  is  best  known 
from   his   successes   at  Wigmore    and  on    the  Welsh  Marches,  in  the  reigns  of 


KENT 


15 


Edwiird  I.  ;uul  II.  A  fni^iii(.-nt  ol  tlic  base  of  tliis  old  tower  still  remains 
embedded  in  the  soliil  eh. ilk.  Tiie  tower  over  the  Colton  date,  with  its  octagonal 
turret,  originaliv  a  Saxon  work,  has  undergone  mueh  alteration  and  has  now  an 
Edwardian  appearance.  It  bears  the  arms  of  Lord  Bnrghersh  who  commanded 
here  (temp.  Edward  III.),  when  it  seems  that  the  top  of  the  Roman  Pharos  was 
built  under  Constable  Riehard  de  Cirey,  whose  arms  are  sculptured  upon  it  ;  but 
nothing  else  remains  (jf  the  three  otlier  towers  which  have  been  sacrificed, 
certainly  without  necessity,  at  various  periods  to  the  fancies  of  presiding  engineers 
in  comparatively  late  times. 

The  ne.\t  stage  is  that  of  the  Xoiinan  fortress  which  we  possess,  in   which   the 
defensive  works  were  carried  out  upon  a  scale  far  more  extended  than  was  adopted 


S^'* *ii,illl4„#""^%^ 


DOVER 


elsewhere  in  this  countrj'.  It  is  a  concentric  fortitication,  in  which,  since  water 
defences  were  of  necessity  absent,  security  had  to  be  sought  chiefly  in  its  massive 
walls,  encrusted  with  flanking  towers,  and  in  the  mutual  support  afforded  between 
these  and  certain  detached  towers  and  outworks.  The  inunense  outer  circuit  of 
walls,  enclosing  an  area  of  thirty-hve  acres,  started  from  the  Monks'  or  Canons' 
Tower  (now  vanished)  on  the  S.W.  at  the  edge  of  tiie  clilf,  and  proceeding 
northward  to  its  salient  returned  again  to  the  edge  of  the  jnecipice  above  the  sea 
on  the  S.K.,  its  trace  being  somewh.it  that  of  a  iivpeibol.i.  'I'Ins  ouler  cuitain  is 
studded  throughout  its  length  with  ninral  toweis,  twentv-seven  in  number,  some 
round-fronted  and  others  s(.[uare  ;  frequently  open  m  rear,  they  were  built  at 
irregular  distances,  and  some  laiger  ones  contained  gateways  and  entrances. 
Each  of  these  toweis  bore  a  special  name. 

In  the  middle  of  this  Outer  Ward  is  the  Inner  Ward,  consisting  of  a  lofty  wall 
and  lourteen  square  watch-towers  contained  in  its  circuit,  having  a  defensible 
gateway  on  both  its  X.  and  S.  faces,  and  liie  trace  of  the  walls  forming  a  sort  of 
oval.     In   the   centre  of  it  stands  tiie  great   Norman  keep,  reputed  to  have  been 


,6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

commcticcd  by  Prince  Henry,  son  of  the  Empress  Maud,  in  1153,  before  he  came 

to  the  throne. 

Tlie  importance  of  Dover  had  been  fully  recognised,  as  a  port,  m  Saxon  tunes, 
when  it  was  regarded  as  the  /.ry  of  England  ;  but  the  real  history  of  the  place 
begins  witli  the  Cliarter  of  Edward  the  Confessor  to  the  Cinque  Ports,  wliich 
consisted  of  Hastings,  Komney,   Hythe,  Dover,  and  Sandwieh,  with   Wuichelsea 


L)u\  i:k 


and  Rye  as  members  ;  and  at  this  time  we  have  in  tlie  oath  of  Harold  to   Duke 
William  clear  evidence  that  a  strong  castle  then  existed  on  these  heights. 

It  was  not  long  after  Senlac  that  the  Conqueror  turned  on  Dover,  whose  castle, 
William  of  Poictiers  tells  us,  was  impregnable  ;  the  town,  too,  was  of  considerable 
size,  and  the  population  numerous  and  stronglv  anti-Nornian,  but  having  no 
leader  they  were  powerless,  and  both  town  and  castle  were  at  once  surrendered. 
Then  William,  who  treated  the  people  with  lenity,  placed  a  Norman  garrison  in 
the  castle,  and  having  remained  there  eight  days,  and  strengthened  its  defences, 
proceeded  to  Canterbury  and  Rochester,  leaving  Kent  in  the  charge  of  Odo, 
Bishop  of  Bayeux,  liis  lialf  brother.  After  this  quiet  prevailed  here  for  eight 
years,  but  in  1174  the  men  of  Kent,  headed  by  Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne,  the 
brother-m-law  of  the  Confessor,  revolted  and  laid  siege  to  the  castle  in  the  absence 
of  Odo,  who,  however,  obtained  outside  aid,  and  obliged  the  besiegers  to  retire. 


KENT  17 

Althouj^h  a  foilrcs?^  of  such  national  importance,  Dover  Castle  has  hut  few 
records  of  any  particular  interest  tlirou,^liout  Plantagenet  and  Tudor  times.  Its 
constables,  whose  list  amounts  to  138,  were  always  appointed  by  the  Crown,  from 
the  davs  of  the  Conqueror,  who  f^ave  the  post  in  perpetual  tenure  to  John  de 
Fiennes,  whom  lie  also  made  Warden  of  the  CiiH|ue  Ports.  Tliis  castellan  was 
assisted  by  ei.^lit  subsidiaiv  confederate  kniji^hts,  who  held  their  lands  elsewhere 
on  the  service  of  the  castle  guard  at  Dover,  each  of  them  havin;^  to  furnish  a 
certain  number  of  warders  for  so  many  days  in  each  year.  These  knights  were 
(i)  William  d'Albrincis,  lord  of  Folkestone;  (2)  Fulbert  de  Dover,  lord  of 
Chilham  (q.r.)  ;  (3)  William  d'Arsic  ;  (4)  Geoi'frey  I'everell  ;  (5)  William 
Maminot  ;  (6)  Robert  de  Port;  (7)  Hugh  de  Crevecceur  ;  (S)  Adam 
Fitzwilliam. 

Thi'ee  of  the  Meniics  famih'  held  this  jiost  during  the  reigns  of  William  1.  and 
11.,  and  Heiiiv  I.,  and  in  their  time  the  main  outer  wall  seems  to  liave  been 
completed  by  the  building  of  a  large  number  of  watcli  towers  and  gatehouses, 
which  received  the  names  of  the  above  knights  and  their  successors. 

Walchelin  Maminot,  though  appointed  constable  by  Stephen,  helil  the  castle 
against  him  ui  1137,  and  then  yielded  it  to  the  l-jiipiess  Maud.  King  Stephen 
died  at  Dover,  in  all  probability  in  the  castle,  and  Henry  II.,  immediately  on  liis 
accession  in  1154,  is  believed  to  have  built  the  great  Norman  keep,  and  the  wall 
and  towers  of  the  Inner  Ward  during  the  constableship  of  one  of  the  P'iennes. 
Henry  came  to  Do\-er  in  1151S,  and,  on  the  death  of  his  brother,  Geoffry, 
assembled  here  an  army  for  the  iinasion  of  the  territory  of  Xantes,  claimed  by 
him  after  Geoffry.  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  was  here  when  litting  out  the  fleet 
of  180  sail,  with  which  he  crossed  to  Gravelines  on  his  way  overland  to 
Palestine  for  the  Crusade. 

It  was  here  that  King  |olin  is  said  to  have  done  his  degrading  homage  to 
Pandolf,  the  Papal  Legate  ;  and  at  the  end  of  his  reign  he  appointed  as  Constable 
of  Dover,  his  faithful  servant,  Hubert  de  Burgh,  who  defended  the  castle  with 
great  deleniiination  against  the  Dauiiliin  in  1216.  Louis,  coming  to  the 
assistance  of  the  barons  with  a  iiroiiiise  from  them  of  the  succession,  brought 
over  a  strong  French  ariiiv,  which,  being  supplied  with  siege  artillery  and  all  the 
best  military  engines  of  the  dav,  closely  besieged  Dover  Castle.  A  covered  way, 
or  trench,  was  opened  against  the  X.W.  face,  aiul  also  at  the  imrtliern  salient, 
where,  after  the  siege,  de  Hurgh  formed  the  great  outwork  as  an  additional 
defence,  with  its  underground  jiassages,  which  still  exists.  The  French  attack 
was  manfully  withstood,  and  a  reinforcement  of  400  men  was  introduced  by 
Sir  Ste|->lieii  Penchester  when  matters  were  becoming  dii'licult  with  the  garrison. 
At  last,  after  the  death  of  John,  and  the  defeat  of  a  French  fleet  bearing  relays 
of  soldiers,  the  Dauphin  lelreati'd,  and,  his  causi.-  being  hoiteless,  returned  to  his 
own  country. 

Henry  III.  came  here  in  state  in  1255;  but  four  years  later  iiis  rebel  barons 
VOL.   I.  C 


,8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Iield  Dover,  until  the  King  recovered  it  from  Hugh  le  Bigot,  whom  they  had  made 
castellan.  Then,  in  1263,  the  surrender  of  this  castle  was  insisted  on  by  the  barons 
on  the  conclusion  of  a  truce  with  the  King,  and  it  was  handed  over  by  Prince 
Edward.  But  this  did  not  prevent  the  faithless  King  from  making,  four  months 
after  an  attack  upon  Dover,  which  Kichard  de  Grey,  the  constable,  successfully 
resisted,  turning  back  the  King  and  Prince  Edward  from  the  gates.  After  the 
victory  of  the  barons  at  Lewes  in  1264,  their  most  dangerous  foe,  Prince  Edward, 
was  sent  prisoner  to  Dover  Castle  under  the  custody  of  his  cousin  Henry  de 
Montfort,  and  his  ride  to  Dover  under  such  altered  circumstances  was  a  popular 
topic  of  ridicule  in  those  days  (Blaauw).  In  the  following  February  (1265), 
Eleanor,  Countess  of  Leicester,  when  things  began  to  look  gloomy  for  her 
husband,  leaving  Odiham  ((/.!■.  Hants)  came  for  security  to  Dover,  where  her  eldest 
son  Henry  was  still  constable,  and  where  were  then  gathered  a  large  number  of 
de  Montfort's  supporters.  After  Evesham  and  the  slaughter  of  her  husband,  the 
widowed  countess  was  banished  by  her  brother.  King  Henry,  and  left  Dover  for 
France  ;  and  at  this  time  it  was  that,  with  the  help  of  twelve  Royalist  prisoners 
conlined  there,  who  had  seized  two  of  the  towers.  Prince  Edward  obtained 
possession  of  Dover  Castle,  which  thenceforth  remained  Royal  property  till  the  war 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Edward  I.  came  as  King  to  Dover  in  1274,  landing  here  on  his  return  from  the 
Holv  Land,  and  he  generally  used  the  port  foi"  his  departure  when  repairing  to 
the  continent.  The  great  Constable's  Tower  and  St.  John's  Postern  are  probably 
(if  the  early  period  of  this  reign.  Edward  II.  came  heix-  on  several  occasions 
early  in  his  reign,  and  went  hence  to  Boulogne  on  the  occasion  of  his  marriage, 
and  here  he  received  his  bride  on  her  arrival.  Edward  III.  was  often  at  Dover 
Castle,  and  started  thence  on  his  secret  expedition  by  night  to  Calais  on  receiving 
news  of  the  intended  treason  of  the  governor  of  that  fortress  ;  and  in  1347  Queen 
Philippa  lodged  at  the  castle  before  joining  the  King  at  Calais.  Henry  V.  also 
used  Dover  for  his  port  of  departuie  on  his  last  expedition  to  France,  and  here 
he  entertained  the  Emperor  Sigismund. 

We  hear  nothing  of  Dover  during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  but  in  1520 
Henry  VIII.  came  there  with  Wolsey  to  receive  with  great  state  in  the  castle  the 
Emperor  Charles,  and  they  continued  here  for  five  days.  It  is  likely  that  when 
this  King  was  spending  large  sums  in  fortifying  the  coast  against  an  expected 
attack  by  the  Catholic  powers,  particularly  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Dover,  he 
did  not  neglect  this  fortress.  Charles  I.'s  Queen,  Henrietta  Maria,  came  hither  as 
a  bride  in  1625,  and  it  was  in  this  castle  that  she  bade  farewell  to  the  King  on  her 
return  to  France  in  1642.  At  this  time  the  fortress  must  have  fallen  into  a  state  of 
neglect  and  disrepair,  and  its  Royalist  garrison  must  have  been  reduced,  as  it  was 
won  over  to  the  Parliamentary  side  by  a  Dover  merchant  named  Drake,  who  with 
only  twelve  followers  managed  to  get  round,  in  the  night,  to  the  X.E.  angle  of  the 
outer  walls  at  the  edge  of  the  cliff.    They  scaled  the  wall  with  ropes,  and  over- 


KENT  19 

powering  a  sentry,  obtained  conimaiicl  of  tiie  gate,  wlieieupon  the  officer  in  charge, 
deceived  as  to  the  strengtli  of  thr  party,  yielded  the  castle  to  them.  Then 
Drake,  sending  to  Cantei  Inirv,  obtained  120  men  to  enable  him  to  retain  what  he 
had  so  strangely  captured,  and  when  the  Royalists  attempted  to  retake  the  fortress, 
so  strong  a  force  was  sent  against  them  that  they  retreated,  and  Dover  remained 
in  the  hands  of  the  Parliament.  After  this  the  place  was  allowed  to  moulder  and 
decay,  and  appears  to  have  iu-en  quite  neglected  until  tlie  days  of  the  French 
Revolution  and  the  wai-,  when  the  Government  deemed  it  necessary  that  so 
important  a  fortress  should  be  placed  in  a  state  of  security  and  adequately 
occupied. 

The  outer  curtain  wall,  with  its  numerous  towers  already  spoken  of,  rises 
straight  from  the  counterscarp  of  its  broad  and  deep  ditch,  and  these  mural 
towers  act  as  buttresses  to  it,  besides  affording  a  fianking  support  at  all  points  ; 
those  on  the  \V.  are  generally  open  bastions,  which  must  have  been  fitted  within 
with  wooden  platforms  and  alluiLS  ;  on  the  K.  there  are  turrets  also  of  smaller 
dimensions,  while  five  of  these  bastions  are  connected  with  gateways. 

Starting  from  the  vanished  Canon's  Tower  at  the  S.W.  commencement  of  the 
wall — (i)  is  the  Rokesley  Tower;  (2)  is  Kulbert's,  once  used  as  a  prison; 
(3)  is  Hirst's  Tower,  at  an  angle  of  the  wall  ;  (4)  is  d'Arsic's  ;  (5)  Gatton's  ;  and  (6) 
Peverell's,  or  the  Marshal's  Tower,  which  formed  one  side  also  of  an  inner  gate- 
house dividing  the  Outer  Ward  into  two  divisions,  and  provided  with  a  ditch 
on  its  S.  front,  and  with  a  drawbridge.  The  7th  was  Port's,  or  Oueen  Mary's, 
having  been  repaired  in  that  reign.  The  Xth  is  Fiennes',  or  the  Constable's  Tower, 
and  is  one  of  the  grandest  in  the  country  ;  it  presents  a  salient  in  its  centre, 
supported  at  each  of  its  extremities  by  two  circular  towers,  and  having  a 
central  tower  rising  in  the  midst  and  dominating  the  whole  fabric.  Its  entrance  is 
vaulted  and  is  furnislu-d  with  gates  and  a  portcullis  ;  the  ditch  in  front,  50  feet 
deep,  being  crossed  by  a  drawbridge.     The  whole  is  of  the  Decorated  Period. 

The  names  of  the  towers  thence,  going  N.,  are  :  (9)  The  Clopton,  or 
Treasurer's;  (10)  God's-foes  ;  (11)  Crevecceur's.  Here  again  is  a  bastion  of  the 
first  importance,  and  of  considerable  extent  ;  lirst  come  two  circular  strong 
toweis,  connected  by  a  short  curtain,  which  extends  in  great  strength  eastwards, 
having  four  other  circular  and  smaller  towers  in  its  length.  Its  name  in  Henry  lll.'s 
reign  was  changed  to  that  of  the  Farl  of  Norfolk,  in  honour  of  the  commander, 
Hugh  le  Bigot  ;  its  province  was  to  command  the  ancient  approach  and  bridge 
from  the  landwaid  side.  From  the  base  of  this  work  there  is  a  covered  gallery  of 
descent  into  the  outer  ditch  to  the  round  tower,  called  St.  John's,  built  in  the 
centre  of  the  ditch  for  eniilade  purposes,  and  this  gallery  is  continued  thmugh 
the  tower  and  counterscarp  into  a  circular  chamber  untlergiound,  fiom  whence 
three  galleries  branch  off  to  different  points  :  one  to  an  old  postern  and  another 
to  a  work  of  Huben  de  IJurgh's,  now  conveited  intt)  a  ravelin.  The  French 
attack  in  1216  was  directed  against  this  salient  of  the  fortress.     The  17th  tower  is 


20  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

Fitzwilliam's,  and  was  connected  with  another  postern,  and  at  present  has  a 
caponnicre  ;  then  come  18  and  19,  being  too  unnamed  watch  towers,  and  beyond 
them  is  (20)  Avranche's  Tower,  at  a  re-entering  angle  which  contains  another 
postern  ;  it  commands  tlie  S.  ditch,  and  behind  it  is  (21)  Penchester's  Tower 
whicli  adjoined  the  wall  closing  the  division  of  the  Outer  Ward  on  the  E. 
side.  Beyond  were  five  more  mural  towers  along  the  wall  up  to  the  edge 
of  the  cliff,  three  of  them  being  called  the  Ashford  Towers  ;  but  this  part  of 
the  outer  defences  has  been  remodelled,  tiie  old  Anglo-Norman  wall  having 
disappeared. 

The  Inner  Ward  of  Henry  II.  is  an  irregular  polygon,  and  of  its  fourteen 
square  mural  towers,  two  on  the  S.W.  have  the  name  of  Maminot,  and  one  that 
of  Gore  ;  they  are  all  built  of  flint  rubble  with  ashlar  quoins,  and  some  of  these 
towers  have  bold  garderobe  machicolations.  Within  the  area,  built  against  the 
wall,  are  many  apartments  and  buildings,  mostly  of  Early  English  construction, 
the  largest  being  Arthur's  Hall,  used  as  a  mess-room,  with  a  gallery,  and  the  others 
being  now  officers'  and  other  quarters,  and  offices  of  the  garrison.  There  are  two 
entrances  into  this  Ward,  the  King's  Gate  on  the  N.  and  the  Palace  Gate  at  the  S. 
end,  having  vaulted  passages  and  square  flanking  towers,  with  a  portcullis  groove  ; 
each  gate  has  an  outwork,  that  on  the  N.  being  perfect,  but  the  one  at  the  S.  gate 
is  nearly  destroyed  ;  and  the  whole  was  enclosed  by  a  broad  and  deep  ditch,  which 
is  now  absent  on  the  S. 

The  keep  is  a  fine  example  of  late  Norman  work — its  date  about  1154;  it  is 
almost  a  square  of  98  and  96  feet,  the  total  height  to  top  of  turrets  being  95  feet ; 
the  base  of  the  keep  is  373  feet  above  high  water  level.  The  angles  are  supported 
by  broad  pilasters,  having  a  bold  projection  of  5  feet,  meeting  at  the  corners  ; 
and  in  the  centre  of  three  of  the  faces  is  another  pilaster.  The  whole  of  the  E.  face, 
from  ground  level  to  the  string  course  of  the  second  storey,  is  occupied  with  the 
fore-building,  containing  the  main  entrance  stairs  which  lead  to  the  doorway  on 
the  second  floor  ;  in  it  are  also  a  chapel  on  the  first  floor,  and  an  oratory  over  this, 
with  one  or  two  small  rooms  ;  this  out-building  is  strengthened  by  three  separate 
towers  of  its  own.  The  walls  of  the  keep  are  of  immense  and  unusual  thickness, 
being  at  the  basement  from  17  to  21  feet  through  ;  this  allows  of  a  great  many 
mural  vaulted  chambers  and  galleries,  which  in  the  lowest  storey  are  now  used  as 
water  tanks  and  powder  magazines. 

A  centre  wall,  as  in  other  Xorman  keeps,  divides  the  interior  into  two  almost 
equal  parts  from  basement  to  roof,  and  in  the  N.E.  and  S.W.  corners  are  two  wide 
well  staircases  giving  access  to  the  difterent  floors.  The  two  rooms  on  the  first 
floor  measure  each  about  52  feet  by  22  feet,  having  numerous  recesses  and 
chambers  contrived  in  the  walls,  and  lighted  originally  by  loopholes  only. 

On  the  second  floor  are  the  main  or  state  apartments,  upon  which  the  great 
staircase  opens ;  this  floor  had  two  tiers  of  windows,  as  at  London,  Rochester, 
and  Hedingham,  the  upper  tier  being  half  way  up  the  walls  on  the  outside  of  the 


.^ 


KENT  21 

imir;il  <4;iIUtv.  This  storcv  \v;is  imicli  disli^'uicd  ,it  tlic  (.-nd  of  tlic  last  century  liy 
the  addition  of  a  brick  vaultin;,'  to  form  a  j^un  platform  on  tlic  roof,  and  upon 
the  roof  thus  formed  are  carried,  on  the  S.  front,  a  platform  witii  six  embrasures, 
and  another  with  five  on  the  W.,  and  tiiere  are  barbette  ^nns  on  the  remaininj^ 
faces.  There  was  no  portcullis  in  the  keep,  access  beinj^  stopped  by  doors  with 
wooden  bars  onlv.  The  masonry  is  good  inil  quite  plain,  the  only  ornament 
being  at  the  entrance  in  the  fore-building.  The  keep  contained  two  wells,  carried 
up  in  the  walls,  this  being  the  only  known  instance  of  the  provision  of  a  second 
well.  They  are  4  feet  in  diameter  and  nearly  300  feet  deep,  but  only  one  is  now 
in  use. 


EYNSFORD  {minor) 

THIS  place  is  a  little  S.  of  Dartford,  in  the  valley  of  the  Daienth,  where  the 
ancient  road  from  London  to  Maidstone  crosses  that  stream.  Xear  the 
river  are  the  remains  of  the  walls,  enclosing  about  three-quarters  of  an  acre,  which 
formed  the  Castle  of  Eynsford,  and  there  are  also  fiagments  in  the  centre  of  its 
square  Xoinian  keep,  built  of  flints,  in  which  Roman  bricks  are  mingled.  Roiuid 
the  whole  went  a  large  moat,  supplied  bv  the  Darenth,  but  this  has  been  filled  up, 
and  converted  into  an  orchard. 

The  castle  and  manor  belonged  to  the  See  of  Canterbury,  and  were  held  under 
the  church  by  a  familv  called  D'Eynsford,  until  the  reign  of  Edwaid  1.,  when  they 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  great  Kentish  family  of  Criol  (sec  Westenh.a.ngkk). 
Thereafter  they  became  the  property  of  many  ditTerent  owners,  but  the  castle 
appears  to  have  been  neglected  and  ruinous  at  an  early  date. 

HEVER  {chief) 

THE  little  liver  Eden  flows  through  the  S.W.  corner  of  Kent  to  its  border  at 
Edenbiidge,  and  fi-om  it  the  moats  of  Hevei'  Castle  are  iilled.  This 
fortress  stands  a  quarter  of  a  mile  N.  of  the  village,  and  a  mile  from  the  railway 
station,  and  is  a  good  specimen  of  a  fifteenth  century  house,  altered  and  adapted 
in  the  Elizabetiian  period  ;  its  exterior  is  very  perfect,  and  it  is  still  inhabited  as  a 
farmhouse. 

A  very  early  building  was  here,  probably  on  the  same  site,  as  there  is  a  licence 
granted  55  Henry  111.  (1272),  to  "  Stephanus  de  Penecestr.  kernellare  domum 
suam,  of  Hevre,  Kane.  ;  "  but  nothing  is  known  of  this  building,  and  the  existing 
castle  is  said  to  be  the  woik  of  Sir  William  de  Hever  (teniii.  Edward  111.),  though 
there  is  no  licence  recorded  in  that  reign  applicable  to  Hever. 

Sir  William's  daughter,  as  a  co-heiress,  biought  the  place  to  hei"  liusb.uul, 
Reginald,  Lord  Cobham  of  Sterborough,  fiom  whom  it  was  purchased  (37 
Henry  VI.)  In*  Sir  Geoffrey  Bolcyn,  a  wealthv  mercer  and  LortI  Mayor  of  London, 


22  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

tlic  "icat  ^nindfatlKT  of  Anne  Hokyn,  the  mother  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  He 
practically  built  the  existing  fabric,  which  was  completed  by  his  grandson,  Sir 
Thomas,  the  fatiicr  of  Queen  Anne  Boleyn. 

The  family  of  Hullen,  or  Boleyn,  originally  French,  settled  in  Norfolk  soon 
after  the  Conquest,  and  in  this  county  Sir  Geoffrey  bought  the  manor  of  Blickling, 
from  Sir  John  Kastolf.  His  son,  Sir  William,  rose  from  the  counting-house  to  be 
a  successful  courtier,  and  much  must  his  pride  have  been  gratified  when  his  son, 
Sir  Thomas,  mai-ried  the  Lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  daughter  of  Thomas,  Duke  of 
Norfolk.  Their  daughter  Anne  was  born  about  the  year  1501,  and  was  educated, 
if  not  altogether  brought  up,  at  Hever  under  a  French  governess  before  she  went 
to  France  in  the  train  of  the  Princess  Mary,  the  King's  sister.  Returning  to 
England  in  1522,  she  became  a  maid  of  honour  to  Queen  Catherine  of  Arragon 
in  1527.  Shortly  afterwards  her  father,  who  had  been  made  Viscount  Rochford 
in  1525,  was  advanced  to  the  Earldom  of  Wiltshire  and  Ormond.  In  June  1532, 
while  Henry's  divorce  from  Catherine  was  proceeding,  she  was  styled  Dame  Anne 
Rochford,  and  thiee  months  after  was  created  Marchioness  of  Pembroke.  On 
January  25,  1533,  Anne  was  privately  married  to  Henry,  and  on  June  i  was 
crowned  Queen  of  England,  amid  much  public  rejoicing.  It  was  a  short  reign, 
for  on  May  2,  1535,  Anne  was  taken  a  prisoner  to  the  Tower,  to  the  same 
queen's  lodgings  which  she  had  occupied  two  years  before  at  her  coronation. 

Henry's  character,  and  the  fact  of  his  being  already  absorbed  with  his  wife's 
maid,  Jane  Seymour,  must  ever  cloud  with  doubt  the  truth  of  his  case  against 
Anne,  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  in  her  entire  innocence  in  view  of  the  recorded 
facts.  Brought  to  trial  in  the  Tower  on  May  15,  and  judged  to  be  burnt  or 
beheaded  "on  the  green  within  the  Tower,"  the  Calais  headsman  was  brought 
over,  and  on  M;iy  19  she  suffered.  The  common  storv  is  that  she  refused  to 
have  her  eyes  bandaged,  and,  watching  the  executioner,  almost  unmanned  him;  at 
last,  managing  to  get  the  Queen's  attention  diverted  for  a  moment,  and  taking  off 
his  shoes,  he  was  able  to  approach  her  unperceived  and  to  strike  with  his  sword 
the  fatal  blow.  No  cofifin  had  been  prepared,  and  the  poor  Queen's  body  was 
placed  in  an  old  ariow  chest  and  buried  in  the  chancel  of  St.  Peter's  ad  Vincula. 

Here  the  remains  were  found  when  the  church  was  relitted  in  1876,  heaped 
together  ui  a  small  space  :  they  were  then  carefully  gathered,  placed  in  a  leaden 
case  covered  with  oak,  and  rebui'ied.  Miss  Strickland  believes  it  certain  that 
Anne  was  born  at  Blickling  in  Norfolk,  and  gives  her  age  at  her  death  as  thirty- 
five.  At  Salle  Church  in  Norfolk  is  shown  a  plain  black  marble  slab,  which  is 
there  believed  to  cover  the  interment  of  the  body,  removed  from  the  Tower 
secretly  by  night,  but  we  may  trust  the  late  Tower  officials  to  have  proof  otherwise. 

It  was  at  Hevei-  that  Henry  first  saw  Anne,  in  the  garden,  and  entered 
into  conversation  with  her,  which  he  related  to  Wolsey*^  on  his  return  to 
Westminster,  saying  that  he  had  "  been  conversing  with  a  young  lady,  who  had 
the  wit  of  an  angel,  and  was  worthy  of  a  crown," 


KENT  23 

After  tlic  attainder  of  Anne's  brother,  Lord  Rocliford,  who  was  beheaded  two 
days  before  lier  on  Tower  Hill,  the  castle  of  Hever  and  other  estates  were 
escheated  to  the  Crown,  and  this  castle  was  settled  on  Anne  of  Cleves  for  her  lil'e. 
At  her  death  in  1557,  it  was  sold  by  commissioners  to  Sir  Edward  Waldej,'rave, 
chamberlain  to  Queen  Mary,  and  from  his  family  the  manor  and  castle  passed  to 
Sir  William  Humfreys,  a  Lord  Mayor  of  London  in  1716;  afterwards  it  came  to 
Sir  T.  Waldo,  whose  descciulant,  Mr.  E.  W.  Meailc  Waldn,  is  the  present  owner. 

Hever  is  described  by  the  Messrs.  Parker  as  a  small  quadrangular  castellated 
house  of  the  fifteenth  century.  One  line  of  the  double  moat  almost  washes  the 
foot  of  the  walls.  The  f^rand  feature  is  the  gatehouse,  through  which  the 
amorous  king  used  to  ride  on  his  love-making  missions  ;  it  is  a  superb  structure, 
quite  disproportioned  to  the  house,  with  its  battlements  and  machicoulis,  and  its 
fine  gateway,  in  whicli  are  three  portcullis  grooves.  Inside,  the  buildings  remain, 
tolerably  perfect,  as  they  were  left  after  the  re-modelling  (temp.  Elizabetii),  witli 
high  roofs  and  gables.  A  pooi'ish  hall  remains,  and  rooms  are  shown,  said  to 
have  been  occupied  bv  Anne  Holeyn.  Beyond  the  mcjat  is  a  lange  of  very  curious 
wooden  stables,  of  date  not  later  than  the  lifteenth  century.     (Parker.) 

In  the  diary  of  Sir  Thomas  More's  daughter  Margaret,  a  glimpse  of  Henry  VI 11. 
is  afforded,  as  he  was  seen  in  1524,  in  his  thirty-fourth  year.  She  says  her 
mother  "calls  him  a  tine  man  ;  he  is  indeed  big  enough,  and  like  to  become  too 
big,  with  long  slits  of  eyes  that  gaze  freelie  on  all,  as  who  should  say  :  'Who  dare 
let  or  hinder  us.'  His  brow  betokens  sense  and  frankness,  his  eyebrows  are 
sujK'rcilious,  and  his  cheeks  puffy  ;  a  rolling  straggling  gait,  antl  abrupt  speech." 
The  bulk  of  his  love-letters  are  in  the  \'atican  library. 

Mary  Boleyn,  Anne's  younger  sister,  died  at  Kochford  Hall,  Essex,  leaving  two 
children,  a  daughter,  who  married  Sir  Francis  Knollys,  and  a  son,  Henry  Carey, 
whom  Elizabeth,  as  her  cousin-german,  created  Baron  Hunsdon,  distinguished  at 
Court  as  "the  honest  courtier." 

(HLLIXGHAM    {minor) 

THE  village  stands  on  a  hill  overlooking  the  Medway,  two  miles  N.E.  of 
Chatham  ;  and  on  the  shore  of  the  river  below  are  the  ruins  of  a  fort, 
built  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  for  the  defence  of  the  dockyard  antl  lleet.  The 
only  occasion  on  which  this  fort  came  into  imtice  was  in  June  i6()7,  when  the 
Dutch  invasion  of  the  Medway  took  place,  as  related  in  the  accoimt  of  Upnor 
Castle  (i/.i'.)  ;  but  as  the  armament  was  but  a  battery  of  four  serviceable  guns,  it 
had  little  effect  in  checking  the  onset  of  De  Ruyter  and  \'an  Cent,  when,  alter 
taking  Sheerness,  thev  passed  the  chain  ,it  Ciillingham,  and  iiroceeded  to  destroy 
tile  English  ships  of  war. 

This  fort,  though   enlaiged  and   dignilied  with    the    name   of  ensile,  was   nevei' 
of  any  military  utility. 


24 


CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 


LEEDS,  OK  LEDES  (chief) 

A    S  Rochester  blocked  the  Watlint^  Street,  at  the  crossins,'   of   the    Mechvay, 

A       between  Dover,  or  ratlier  Canterbury,  and   London,  so  the  central  fortress 

of  Leeds  lay  close  to  the  second  Roman   road,  starting  from  the  Lemanis  Portus 

at  West  Hjihe,  and  passing  by  Charhig    and  Maidstone,  either  to   Rochester, 

or  to  a  junction  with  the  Watling  Street  east  of  Dartford.     The  first  notice  found 


I,  Glortene- 


jyToair 


LEEDS 


ot  the  place  is  towards  the  end  of  the  ninth  century,  when  it  was  built,  as  is 
believed,  during  the  reign  of  Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent.  Some  stronghold  existed 
there  at  the  Conciuest,  wliich,  with  the  lands,  was  given  to  Bishop  Odo,  after 
whose  fall  in  1088  the  Crown  resumed  possession  and  granted  Ledes  to  a 
member  of  the  Norman  Creveca'ur  family.  Hugh  Crevecceur  was  one  of  the 
eight  knights  appointed  under  their  tenures  to  guard  Dover  Castle  ;  they  were 
(i)  William  d'Albrincis  ;  (2)  Kulbert  de  Dover;  (3)  William  d'Arsic  ;  (4)  Geoffrey 
Peverell  ;  (5)  William  Maminot  ;  (6)  Robert  du  Port ;  (7)  Hugh  Crevecoeur  ; 
(8)  Adam  Fitzwilliam.  Ledes  was  one  of  the  manors  thus  held.  Hugh  was 
brother  to  Hamo  Dapiter,  and  seems  to  have  been  father  of  Robert  de  Creve- 
ccvur,  who  began  the  building  of  the  Norman  castle  of  Leeds,  with  its  chapel, 
which  Robert,  his  grandson,  completed.  Hamo  Crevecoeur  (temp.  John) 
joined  the  Barons'  league,  and  had  to  pay  a  composition  for  the  recovery  of  his 
lands ;  his  grandson,  Robert,  was  the  last  of  his  race  possessing   Leeds,  being 


KENT  25 

youiij,'  at  his  <,'randfathcr's  deatli  (47  Henry  111.).  He  was  an  ambitious  and 
turbulent  knight,  who,  early  in  the  Barons'  war,  had  espoused  their  side,  but 
afteiuartls  went  i)\-er  to  tlie  Kin.^',  who  recei\'e(l  him  with  favoui'  ;  then,  having 
succeeded  to  his  lands,  he  fouj^ht  on  the  barons' side  at  Lewes,  and  was  accord- 
ingly dispossessed  of  Leeds,  and  made  to  e.xchange  it  for  Klete,  and  other  lands, 
with  Roger  de  Levbourne  ;  his  only  son,  William,  died  s./i.  Leeds  was  then 
made  over  bv  Levbourne  to  the  K'ing,  whose  eouncilloi'  he  had  been,  and  it  was 
settled  bv  him  upon  Oueen  Eleanor.  Roger  de  Leybourne  went  with  the  Prince 
to  the  Holy  Land,  and  died  there  (56  Henry  111.).  His  son,  William,  was  a 
lough  soldier,  who  is  sketched  in  the  poem  of  "  Cicrlaverock  "  as  "a  man  without 
a  but  or  an  if." 

••  Guillemes  de  Leybourne  .insi 
Vaillans  horns  sans  mes  et  sans  si." 

Leeds  belonged  to  the  Ci'own,  m  duel,  Irom  Ktlwaicl  1.  till  the  reign  ot 
Eclwaiil  \'l.,  a  period  of  near  300  years.  The  first  Edwaril  and  his  Queen  were 
here  several  times  between  1271;  and  1  2i;o,  at  whieh  lattei' period  the  swinuuing-bath 
and  its  towei'  were  plamied  and  built,  the  many  alterations  and  additions  then  in 
progress  taking  sex'eral  vears  to  carry  out.  At  this  time  the  castle  was  used  fre- 
quently for  the  entertaimnent  of  distinguished  foreignei's  on  their  way  to  and 
h'om  the  Continent. 

Edward  11.,  on  the  death  of  the  (Jueen  Dowager  Margaret  in  1314,  gave  the 
reversion  of  Leeds  to  his  faithless  Queen,  Isabella,  but  a  noble  of  great  inipoit- 
anee,  Hartholomew,  Loid  Hadlesmere,  was  aiijiointed  constable,  an  ofhce  which 
meant  possession,  in  some  cases,  fioni  lathei'  to  son.  In  his  lime  oceuri'ed  one 
ot  the  most  memcjrable  events  in  the  history  of  the  fortress.  Hadlesmere  had 
taken  part  with  the  associated  barons  in  1321  against  the  King's  favourites,  the 
Despencers,  and  was  awav  in  the  noith,  lea\ing  his  wife  and  childien  at  Leeds, 
when  one  evening  Queen  Is.diella,  retuiiung  from  Canterbury,  ajipeared  with  a 
considerable  attendant  force  before  the  gates  demanding  admittance.  She  had 
formed  this  plan  of  recovering  possession  of  the  castle,  which  it  is  quite  unlikely 
hail  been  exchanged  with  Hadlesmere,  as  was  pretended,  for  Aldnthleve,  in  Shrop- 
shire, without  any  notitication  to  the  Queen,  especially  as  the  absent  owner 
afterwai'ds  wiote  a  letter,  approving  of  his  wife's  refusal  of  what  really  amounted 
to  delivery.  At  all  events,  the  castellan,  Sir  Thomas  Colepeper,  refused  to  open 
the  gates  wilhiint  oideis  from  his  lortl,  and  on  the  partv  of  the  Queen  trving  to 
torce  an  entrance,  they  were  received  with  a  volley  of  arrows,  which  slew  si.\  of 
them.*  Isabella  had  to  lind  a  lodging  in  the  vicinitv,  and  then,  repairing  to  the 
King  at  the  Tower   of    London,  conqMained   formallv  of  the  indignity  offered  to 

•  In  1822,  in  opening  tlic  grouml  near  the  principal  entrance  to  the  castle,  tlie  remains 
of  these  men  were  duK  up,  just  500  years  afterwards. 

vol..    1.  U 


26  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

lici-  •  wliereoii  the  King,  who  h;itl  probably  concocted  the  whole  scheme  for 
t'ctting  possession  of  Leeds,  ordered  a  levy  of  all  men  in  the  four  neighbouring 
counties  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty,  together  with  the  /^cw  coinitntiis  of 
Kent,  to  assemble  before  Leeds  Castle  in  six  days,  under  the  command  of  Aymer 
de  Valence,  to  punish  his  wife's  contemptuous  treatment,  whilst  he  himself,  with 
his  two  brothers  and  a  number  of  nobles,  pressed  the  siege.  Meantime,  Lord 
Badlesmere,  warned  of  what  was  taking  place,  attempted,  with  his  friends,  to 
relieve  the  fortress,  but  they  were  beaten  off,  and  forced  to  retire  to  Kingston. 
The  besieged  then  surrendered  (November  i),  and,  according  to  Holinshed, 
tliirteen  of  them  were  executed  at  once,  Colepeper,  the  castellan,  being  dragged 
out  at  the  tail  of  a  horse,  and  hung  on  the  drawbridge  with  eleven  others,  while 
Lidy  Badlesmere  and  her  children  were  sent  to  the  Tower.  {Sir  also.  Castle 
COMBK,  Wilts.)  The  next  spring  Lord  Badlesmere  was  captured,  with  Thomas, 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  at  the  battle  at  Boroughbridge,  and,  being  brought  to  Canter- 
bury, was  there  executed,  and  his  head  fixed  over  the  Borough  gate. 

Leeds  was  then  retained  by  the  Crown,  and  eventually  the  lady  and  her  family 
were  allowed  to  possess  Aldrithleye,  but  after  the  death  of  the  rich  Lord  of  Leeds, 
that  fortress  fell  into  ruinous  disrepair,  and  tliough  in  1359  William  of  Wykeham 
was  appointed  chief  warder  and  surveyor,  he  was  then  young,  and  no  work  of  his 
can  lie  identified.  Edward  II.  came  there  twice  in  1325-26,  after  his  wife  had 
deserted  him.  Edward  111.  settled  Leeds  on  his  queen,  and  it  formed  a  part  of 
the  settlement  of  Anne  of  Bohemia,  the  first  queen  of  Richard  II.,  who  often 
resorted  here,  and  who  was  brought  to  Leeds  on  his  deposition. 

Henry  IV.  was  here  in  1401,  and  granted  this  castle  for  his  lifetime  to 
Archbishop  Arundel,  who  from  here  fulminated  against  the  Lollards,  and 
summoned  Lord  Cobham  (Sir  John  Oldcastle)  to  attend  his  trial  before  him 
for  heresy,  "  in  the  gi-eatei-  chapel  of  Ledes  Castle."  Cobham  failing  to  appear, 
sentence  was  passed  on  him  by  Arundel  for  contumacv,  which  led  to  the 
subsequent  martyrdom  of  that  great  man  under  Henry  V.,  who  refused  to  save 
his  old  companion-in-arms.  (.SVc  Coolixg,  Kext.)  At  Leeds  Henry  V.  received 
the  Emperor  Sigisuuind,  and  he  made  this  place  in  1419  the  prison  of  his 
stepmother  Joan,  who,  being  tried  for  practising  witchcraft,  was  kept  prisoner 
here  before  her  long  solitary  confinement  at  Pevensey,  until  she  was  restored  and 
her  innocence  acknowledged  by  Henry  V.  on  his  death-bed.  Henry  VI.  was  here  in 
1436  and  1438,  and  in  143 1  the  trial  of  Eleanor,  Duchess  of  Gloucester,  the  wife 
of  Henry's  uncle  Humphrey,  was  held  in  the  castle  ch.ipel  by  Archbishop  Henry 
Chichele  for  sorcery.  She  confessed  to  a  part  of  the  charge,  and  after  three  davs 
of  penance  in  London,  was  imprisoned  for  life.  Then  the  Court  party  laid  hands 
on  her  husband,  "the  good  duke,"  who,  being  arrested  for  treason  and  thrown 
uito  prison  by  the  I'arliament  assembled  al  Bury  St.  P:dnumds,  was  found 
strangled  in  bed  soon  after,  never  having  been  brought  to  trial. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  interest  of  Henry  Vlll.  in  this  castle  :  many  of 


KENT  27 

the  ix'iiewals  and  additions  were  made  in  his  reij^n,  and  it  is  said  that  the  Maidens' 
Tower  was  so  called  from  its  appropriation  at  that  date  to  the  maids  of  honour. 
Mr.  Wykeham  Maitin,  in  his  admiiable  memorial  of  this,  his  family's  ancestral 
seat,  1,'ives  a  drawinj^  of  a  small  casket  ol  green  velvet  hound  with  t^olden  hands, 
containing  the  Book  of  Collects,  whicli  Queen  Anne  Boleyn  left  behind  here. 
Finally  the  castle  was  alienated  ivom  the  Crown  by  Edward  \'I.  in  favour  of  Sir 
Anthony  St.  I^eger,  about  1550,  and  his  descendants  after  1618  sold  it  to  Sir 
Richard  Smith,  of  the  Strangfoicl  family,  at  wliicli  time  an  Elizabethan  mansion 
was  built  on  the  middle  island.  The  heirs,  his  daughters,  after  1631,  sold  it 
again  to  Thomas  Cole[ieper,  of  HoUingbourne,  of  a  family  once  numerous  and 
powerful  in  Kent,  to  which  belonged  the  brave  and  ill-fated  castellan  who 
offended  the  "She-Wolf  of  France."  These  owners,  who  were  raised  to  the 
peerage  in  1644,  leased  the  castle  to  the  Government  in  1655,  for  the  safe  keeping 
of  500  prisoners  taken  in  Cromwell's  victory  over  the  Dutch.  They  were  placed 
under  the  care  of  John  Evelyn,  who,  in  liis  diary  on  October  17  of  that  year, 
says  he  hired  the  place  of  Lord  Culpeper  for  this  puipose,  and  in  November  1666, 
he  had  600  Dutch  and  French  sailors  there,  who  were  detained  till  the  Peace  of 
Breda  in  1667.  Under  date  May  8,  1666,  he  writes  :  "To  Leeds  Castle,  once  a 
famous  hold,  now  hired  by  me  of  my  Lord  Culpeper  for  a  prison.  Here  I  flowed 
[flooded]  the  drie  moat,  made  a  new  drawbridge,  brought  spring  water  into  the 
court  of  ye  castle  to  an  old  fountaine,  and  took  orders  for  ye  repaires."  A 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Thomas,  second  Loid  Colepeper,  married  Thomas,  fifth 
Lord  Fairfax,  and  brought  him  Leeds  Castle.  Robert,  seventh  Lord  Faiifax 
jiut  the  buildings  m  repair,  and  entertained  hei'e,  in  1778,  King  George  111. 
and  his  Queen.  He  left  Leeds  to  his  sister's  third  son,  the  Rev.  D.  Martin,  of 
Loose,  who,  dving  in  1800,  was  succeeded  in  the  property  by  his  brother.  General 
Philip  Martin,  from  whom  it  descended  in  1821  to  Fiennes  Wykeham,  of  the 
Swalclilf  family,  who  adopted  the  name  of  Martin,  and  in  whose  family  the  old 
pile  remains  and  is  carefullv  preserved,  the  present  owner  being  Mr.  Cornwallis 
P.  Wykeham-Martin. 

The  Leeds  Castle  which  Hoiace  Walpole  visited  in  1752  is  not  altogether 
tile  place  we  see  now,  with  its  towers  and  walls  rising  so  splendidly  from  the 
lake,  which  water  Walpole,  in  his  misleading  way,  calls  "the  only  handsom 
object;"  for  in  1822,  in  place  of  the  sixteenth  century  mansion  erected  on  the 
central  island  bv  Sir  Richard  Smith,  the  existing  buildings  were  constructed  in 
the  Tudor  stvle,  a  gi"eat  part  of  the  innei-  bailev  and  of  the  keep  having  been  the 
work  of  Henry  YIII.  The  Len  stream  flowing  through  the  property  afforded  the 
one  great  element  of  defence  on  which  our  ancestors  chiefly  relied  ;  here  some 
twenty  acres  surroimding  the  castle  might  by  means  of  sluices  be  turned  into  a 
lake  if  occasion  required. 

The  situation  of  this  fortress  was  a  most  suitable  one  in  the  days  of  water 
defence  :  it  occupies  two  natural  rock  islands  in  the  lake,  a  third  artificial   one 


28  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

Ix'iiij^  foniied  :it  the  land  und  by  the  bank  and  sluices  which  controlled  the  water, 
and  on  whicli  were  placed  the  barbicans  and  the  castle  mill.  The  whole  of  the 
centre  island  was  rcveted  witli  an  outer  or  curtain  wall,  15  feet  high,  rising 
from  tile  waters,  liaving  four  rounded  bastion  towers,  and  drawbridges  at  each 
end,  admitting  at  the  S.  end  from  the  barbican  island,  and  giving  passage  at  the 
N.  point  to  the  furthermost  island,  called  the  Old  Castle  or  "  Gloriette,"  which 
was  the  keep  of  the  fortress.  Concentric  with  the  outer  wall  of  the  centre  island 
was  a  second  or  inner  wall,  20  feet  high  and  8  feet  thick,  leaving  a  space  of  40  feet 
between  the  walls  which  formed  the  outer  ward  or  bailey,  the  contained  area  in 
the  centre  being  the  inner  ward,  but  this  inner  wall  has  disappeared,  as  has  the 
gatehouse  at  its  X.  end  ;  that  at  the  S.  end  remaining — a  very  curious  structure, 
probably  of  late  Norman  work — and  still  showing  a  doorway  and  building  of 
Henry  111.  and  Kchvard  1.  (Clark.)  The  domestic  buildings,  which  occupied 
the  N.  end  of  this  island,  are  now  replaced  by  a  fine  modern  mansion,  having 
vaulted  NoiMiian  cellarage.  On  the  E.  side  is  the  Maidens'  Tower  of  Henry  VIII., 
before  alluded  to,  and  also  the  interesting  bathhouse  built  by  Edward  I.  in  1292, 
and  now  used  as  a  boathouse.  Baths  were  an  innovation  at  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  which  Edward  may  have  brought  in  from  the  East.  (Parker.) 
Entering  the  citadel  from  the  modern  mansion,  one  passes  by  the  entrance 
through  the  Curfew  Tower,  which  contains  an  ancient  bell,  that  has  sounded  the 
eight  o'clock  curfew  tor  four  and  a  hall  centuries  and  does  so  still  ;  it  is  marked 
1435,  and  is  engraved  with  figures  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  and  Child,  and  the 
Crucitixion,  and  St.  George  and  the  Dragon.  There  is  here  likewise  a  curious 
early  clock  of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  which  strikes  upon  the  bell.  The  bridge 
had  formeiiy  two  openings,  with  lilting  bridges  operated  on  bva  cential  tower  of  two 
storeys  ;  it  was  called  the  Pons  Gloricttiv.  On  the  left,  in  entering  the  keep,  is  the 
chapel,  built  by  Edward  I.  in  1380,  having  good  Early  English  windows.  The 
walls  of  these  buildings  rise  out  of  the  water  to  a  considerable  height,  and  are  placed 
round  a  small  central  court.  Much  of  the  work  is  of  the  fourteenth  century.  This 
part  was  severely  injured  by  a  fire  during  its  occupation  by  Evelyn's  Dutch  sailors, 
so  that  a  good  deal  is  modern.  There  is,  however,  the  great  dining-hall  of 
Henry  VlII.'s  castle,  now  converted  into  the  kitchen,  while  the  ancient  kitchen 
has  become  a  larder.  Overhead  is  the  Liueen's  bed-chamber,  with  a  line  mantel- 
piece and  an  immense  bed.  All  this  is  the  work  of  Sir  Henry  Guildford,  custodian 
(temp.  Henry  VIII.).  Clark  thinks  that  this  building  represents  the  structure  of  a 
late  Norman  shell  keep,  if  not  a  still  earlier  Saxon  house  of  timber.  At  the  level 
of  tlie  water  is  a  postern  or  water-gate  and  a  garderobe,  reached  by  a  winding 
staircase.  The  S.,  or  land  end,  of  the  castle  on  the  edge  of  the  lake  consists  of  a 
barbican,  or  tetc  dit  pout,  built  on  the  sluice  dam  and  defending  it ;  it  had  three 
approaches  and  three  drawbridges.  There  was  again  beyond  this  an  outer 
barbican,  strongly  fortified,  from  which  a  drawbridge  led  to  the  inner  barbican. 
Thence    the    fourth    bridge    led    into  the    enceinte,    through     a  gatehouse    still 


KENT  29 

existing.  The  words  Gloricllc  ;iiul  "Glory  Chiimhcr,"  which  we  meet  with 
occasioniiily,  seem  to  have  been  names  given  to  a  room  at  the  top  of  a  building 
commanding  a  fine  prospect.     (Clark.) 

LEYBOUKXK   (minor) 

THIS  place  stands  to  the  X.W.  of  Maidstone,  between  Snodland  and  West 
Mailing ;  the  castle  was  never  of  any  great  size,  Iwt  there  are  con- 
siderable remains  of  it.  The  lands  were  given  by  the  Conqueror  to  his  half- 
brotlier,  Odo  the  Bishop,  and  reverting  to  the  Crown  at  his  fall,  were  bestowed 
upon  Sir  William  d'Arsic,  one  of  the  eight  knights  of  Dover.  Temp.  Richard  1. 
they  were  in  the  hands  of  the  family  of  Leybournc,  who  then  erected  the  castle, 
and  it  remained  with  them  till  the  death  of  Juliana,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Leybourne,  and  heiress,  who  had  brought  the  castle  and  manor  to  four  husbands, 
whom  she  survived  without  issue;  whence  in  41  Edward  HI.,  the  whole 
was  escheated  to  the  Crown,  and  conferred  on  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of  St.  Mary 
Graces,  near  the  Tower  of  London,  with  whom  the  property  remained  until  the 
Dissolution.  Then  Henry  VHI.  granted  the  manor  to  Archbishop  Cranmer, 
after  whom  both  manor  and  castle  went  to  Sir  Edward  Xorth,  a  Privy  Councillor. 
He  alienated  them  6  Pxlward  \'i.,  and  they  passed  through  many  hands,  until,  in 
1724,  thev  came  to  the  family  of  the  Whitworths,  and  then  by  entail  to  that  of 
Hawley,  Sir  Henry  Hawlev,  Hart.,  of  the  (}range,  being  owner  at  the  beginning  of 
this  century. 

A  great  part  of  the  walls  may  be  Norman,  but  the  architecture  generally  is  of 
Henry  III.  There  is  a  fine  gateway,  in  ruins,  of  perhaps  Edward  III.,  machicolated, 
and  with  a  passage  under  pointed  and  ribbed  arches  between  two  bold  drum 
towers.  There  is  a  curious  opening  above  the  arch,  3  feet  long  by  6  inches, 
like  a  magnified  Post  Office  opening,  the  use  of  which  appears  to  have  been  for 
pouring  out  water,  in  the  event  of  besiegers  applying  lire  to  the  gate  or  portcullis, 
and  provision  for  an  ample  supply  of  water  for  this  purpose  was  made  by  a  water 
conduit  communicating  with  the  moat  and  passing  below  the  W.  turret  to  the  foot 
of  a  shaft,  up  which  buckets  could  be  drawn.  A  wooden  gallery  was  provided  for 
the  defence  of  the  gatehouse  in  front,  supported  by  wooden  cantilevers,  the  sockets 
for  which  are  still  to  be  seen. 

One  of  the  ranges  of  masonry  which  remain  seems  to  have  lain  ne.\t  to  tiie  I  lall, 
which  has  vanished,  and  contained  some  of  the  private  apartments.  A  short  way 
northward  aie  the  remains  of  the  eha|iel,  which  had  an  arched  pt)rch  and  a 
passage  20  feet  in  length.  In  the  sixteenth  century  a  dwelling-house  was  erected, 
which  was  converted  during  the  past  century  into  a  farmhouse,  tlie  chapel 
itself  forming  the  dairy.  The  house  was  formerly  the  residence  of  the  Golding 
family. 

In  the  entrance  gateway  is  a  rectangular  groove  for  the  portcullis,  and  the  pivot 


30 


CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 


l.i.lcs  of  tl.c  drawbnd-e  arc  still  apparent,  hut  the  pit  of  the  hnd-c  and  the  moat 
liave  been  filled  in.     The  rear  of  the  gatehouse  has  been  destroyed. 

The  ancient  ruin  has  been  well  cared  for  and  preserved  by-  its  late  owner,  Sir 
Joseph  Hawley. 


T 


iccupymg 


LYMPNE,   OK   STUTFALL  {minor) 

HIS  is  the  modern  name  given  to  the  remains  of  some  old  buildings 
uil  the  Roman  castrum  of  Lemanis,  or  Lymne,  that  protected  the 

harbour  here,  now  meadow 
ground,  but  which  at  the  time 
of  Roman  ascendancy  reached 
as  far  as  Hythe,  whence  the 
straight  road,  called  Stone  Street, 
leads,  without  a  bend,  to  Canter- 
bury. Landslips  have  wrecked 
the  ancient  walls,  which  also 
were  taken  by  Archbishop  Lan- 
franc  for  building  the  church. 
There  exists  a  castellated  house 
erected  (temp.  Henry  Y.)  upon 
part  of  the  residence  of  the 
Archbishops      of      Canterbury, 

which    mav   originally    have     been   a    Norman    watch-tower    built    within   the 

castrum. 


QUEEN  BOROUGH  (non-existent) 

THIS  iine  stronghold,  called  also  the  Castle  of  Sheppey,  stood  on  the  \V.  side 
of  the  Isle  of  Sheppey,  near  the  W.  mouth  of  the  Swale  river,  about  two 
miles  southward  of  Sheerness.  A  fortress  here  existed  in  early  days  for  the 
guarding  of  the  water  passage,  but  this  one  was  built  anew  by  Edward  III.,  about 
1361,  "for  the  strength  of  the  realm,  and  for  the  refuge  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
island."  His  architect  and  superintendent  was  William  of  Wj^keham  who,  in 
spite  of  difficulties  of  position  and  lowness  of  the  site,  erected  a  large,  strong 
and  magnificent  fortification,  suitable  for  receiving  his  royal  master.  When 
finished  the  King  paid  a  visit  to  it,  remaining  there  several  days.  He  made 
the  town  a  free  borough,  and  named  it  after  his  Queen,  Philippa,  by  Royal  charter, 
in  1366. 

Little  use  appears  to  have  been  made  of  this  castle,  which  never  has  figured  in 
military  history.  It  received  repairs  in  the  reign  of  Richard  III.,  and  in  1536, 
when  King  Henry  VI II.  was  adding  to  the  fortifications  of  the  southern  coasts. 


KENT 


31 


^■^  ^ 


Qiieenborough  was  strengthened  ;  and  again,  in  tlie  reign  of  Elizabetli,  it  was 
further  repaired.  And  so  it  continued,  constables  being  regularly  appointed  to  it 
until  the  year  1648,  when  it  was  seized  by  the  Commonwealth  Council,  among 
other  possessions  of  the  Crown,  and  vested  in  trustees,  and  a  survey  was  made  in 
1650. 

Tills  survey  declares  the  castle  to  have  contained  about  twelve  rooms  in  the 
basement  and  fortv  on  the  upper  floor  ;  being  circular,  and  built  of  stone,  with 
six  towers  and  out-oftices,  all  roofs  being  lead  covered.  Within  the  walls  was  one 
small  round  court  paved  and  in  its  centre  was  a  large  well.  The  castle  hud 
one  great  court  surrounding  it,  on  the  outside  of  which  was  the  moat.  The 
fortress  abutted  on  the  high  road  from 
Queenborough  to  Kastchurch,  and  con- 
tained 3  acres,  I  i-ood,  11  ]ierc]ies.     "  .All 

is    much    out    of    repaii-,    and    no    ways  1^^^  ..-^       ^ 

defensive  by  the  Commonwealth,  Ih'iiii^ 
built  ill  the  time  of  /u'i.'s  iiinl  (invics." 
Therelore,  having  no  conunaiul  of  the 
sea,  or  even  a  platfoini  foi-  guns,  it  \va^ 
adjudged  unlit  to  be  retained,  and  to  be 
demolished — the  materials  being  valued 
at   £\'](.)2    I2S.,  so  it  was  soon   aftei'  sold 

and  pulled  (lown.  The  site  reverted  to  the  Crown  at  the  Restoration,  and  it  so 
remains.  Xothuig  whatever  exists  of  the  structure  at  the  present  day  except  the 
moat  and  the  ancient  well,  which  is  200  feet  deep  and  is  lined  with  Portland 
stone  ;  it  was  reopened  and  cleaned  out  in  1723  toi'  the  use  of  the  Xavv. 

On  the  list  of  constables  of  this  castle  appear  the  names  of  John  of  Gaunt, 
in  50  Edward  111.;  Robert  de  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  attainted  11  Richard  11.; 
Thomas  Aiundel,  .Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (10  Heniy  1\'.)  ;  Humphrey  Stafford, 
Duke  of  Buckingham  (2(S  Henry  \'l.)  ;  George,  Duke  of  Clarence  (i  Edward  iV.); 
the  last  being  Philip,  Earl  of  Pembroke  and  Montgomery  (temp.  James  !.). 

Among  some  small  water-colour  drawings  by  Hollar  in  the  Print  Room  of  the 
British  Museum,  isa  beautifullv  luiished  one  of  "  Quinborow  Castle  in  Engelland," 
bv  the  hand  of  that  most  careful  and  truthful  a^ti^^t.  It  porti'avs  a  central  low 
circular  building,  of  two  storeys,  having  four  hij;h  and  projecting  circular  dium 
towers  in  its  circumference,  these  towers,  as  well  as  the  main  building,  being 
surmounted  with  heavy  battlements  and  crenellated  parapets,  with  slight 
machicoulis.  Close  to  one  ot  these  towers  rises  from  the  loof  of  the  ca.stle  a 
square  sort  of  keep  ;  the  whole  is  lighted  externally  by  long  narrow  lights  or 
loops.  Around  this  centr.il  building  runs  a  circular  iiaiapeted  wall,  having  a  single 
entrance  gateway  under  a  broad  pointed  archway,  defended  bv  a  projecting 
paiapet,  and  11. inked  by  two  curious  low  conical  lowers,  boldly  standing  from  the 
surrounding  wall,  with  loops  for  defence  at  some  height  above  the  ground,  and 


32  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

biittlenieiitcd.     The  moat  is  not  shown,  and  was  perhaps  then  filled  in.     In  the 
middle   was   a  small    round    court,   paved   with    stone.     The  drawing  has  been 

reproduced  here. 

In  an  old  botanical  work  hy  T.  Johnson,  the  writer  mentions  seeing,  at  the  top 
of  a  noble  large  dining-room,  or  hall,  which  he  saw  in  this  castle,  the  arms  of  the 
nobility  and  gentry  of  Kent  portrayed,  and  in  the  midst,  those  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
with  the  date  1593,  and  some  flattering  verses  addressed  to  that  sovereign. 

ROCHESTER  (chief) 

THE  Roman  camp  here,  on  the  light  bank  of  the  Medway  at  its  embouchure, 
commanded  tlie  point  where  the  Watling  Street  from  Dover  to  London 
passed  this  i-iver,  and  on  a  portion  of  its  site  was  formed  in  Saxon  and  Danish 
times  a  castrum,  the  "  Castle  of  Hrofe,"  or  Hrofeceastre,  an  oblong  enclosure  of 
about  seven  acres,  including  a  large  conical  mound  of  the  eastern  clialk  range,  called 
Boley,  or  Hullv,  Hill,  where  the  customary  timber  fortifications  were  of  course 
erected.  When  these  earthworks  fell  into  Norman  hands  their  owners  proceeded 
to  fortify  the  position  in  an  improved  way,  by  enclosing  with  a  strong  curtain  wall 
a  quadrangular  space  neai-  the  river,  and  buikluig  therein  in  later  years  a  large 
square  keep  ;  while  the  Saxon  burh  was,  as  at  Canterburv  and  Warwick,  left  out- 
side, to  be  occupied  as  an  outpost  only.  The  Norman  enceinte  of  the  eleventh 
centurv  was,  so  to  speak,  four-sided,  measuring  160  yards  N.  and  S.  by  130  E.  and 
W.,  its  E.  face  fionting  the  then  verv  ancient  cathedral,  the  W.  wall  being  built 
close  above  the  river  side  ;  the  N.  face  probably  on  the  edge  of  the  Roman  scarp 
and  ditch,  while  the  S.  front  faced  Boley  Hill,  a  deep  ditch  being  carried  all 
round  the  three  landward  fronts.  The  gatehouse,  which  has  vanished,  stood  at 
the  N'.E.  angle,  with  a  steep  causeway  leading  up  to  it,  and  at  the  X.W.  corner 
was  a  bastion  tower  containing  a  postern  ;  this  tower  was  standing  in  1735, 
immediately  on  the  shore,  and  commanding  the  bridge.  The  S.E.  angle  is  held 
still  by  a  large  circular  tower,  30  feet  in  diameter,  in  two  floors  and  loopholed. 
The  E.  tront  has  two  rectangular  mural  towers  of  later  work  ;  only  some  portions 
remain  of  the  curtain  walls,  chiefly  of  Norman  date,  particularly  on  the  N.  side. 

The  most  celebrated  part  of  this  castle  is  the  keep,  which  stands  near  the 
S.E.  angle  of  the  enclosure,  where  the  ground  is  highest  ;  and  outside  is 
another  tower  which  formed  the  boundary  of  the  city,  being  the  work  of 
Gundulf,  the  friend  of  Lanfranc,  consecrated  Bishop  of  Rochester  in  1077,  who, 
bemg  a  great  architect  and  a  very  learned  man,  was  called  on  by  King  William  to 
erect  this  tower.  It  is  probable  that  the  rest  of  the  Norman  fortifications  were 
carried  out  at  about  the  same  time— at  all  events,  at  the  Conqueror's  death  it  was 
a  very  strong  foitress,  and  was  seized  and  held  by  the  much  hated  Bishop  Odo. 
His  half-brother,  Earl  of  Kent,  acting  on  behalf  of  the  King's  eldest  son,  Duke 
Robert,  associated  with  him  Count  Eustace  of  Boulogne  and  Robert  de  Beleme, 


'"'^■^liisteii 


•  Hie  anus  o(  the 


i 


^  and  Danish 

-^ij^iireol 

■'!  course 

■  .vucftded 

■Swig  curtain  CL 


idS.l«'i5oE.; 


■  1^-!; 


■'i  stood  at 
jitk  NX  corner 


oohr  some  portions 
rX.side, 
-  near  the 
.:  outside  is 

to  the  work  oi 
:i07],wH 
;\ViUiaiiito 
■ationsivere 
,  jeathitms 

ihuled  Bishop  Odo. 

■■_.tson,Diilie 

-;  de  Belenifi 


\ 


KENT  33 

and  ganisonccl  llic  castli-,  wliicli  was  besieged  and  captured  in  1088  by  the  Red 
King  after  a  ioiig  blockade  of  six  weeks.  Ock)  was  sent  by  his  nephew  prisoner 
to  Tonbridge,  being  some  time  after  set  at  lilierty  on  condition  of  quitting  tlie 
reahn. 

The  castle  was  probably  mucii  injured  in  this  its  iirst  siege,  and  we  find  that 
Bishoji  CiUiKlulpli  was  called  on  hv  the  King  to  expend  f.Go  in  building  a  new 
tower;  it  is  possibK'  that  this  bishop  aichitect,  who  liad  built  liis  cathech-al  at 
Rochester,  and  was  taken  to  London  to  build  the  Wliite  Tower  tliere,  should  have 
furnished  the  plans  of  the  mighty  keep  by  the  Medway,  erected  soon  after.  He 
died  in  March  iio<S,  aged  84.  In  ii2(>  Henry  I.  granted  to  Walter  de  Corbeuil, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  tile  constableship  of  "the  Castle  of  Hrof,"  with 
permission  to  build  a  tower,  and  then  it  was  apparently  that  the  existing  keep  was 
reared.  It  was  here  that  Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  the  half-brother  and  defender 
of  the  Empress  Maud,  was  conluied  after  his  capture  on  the  retreat  to  Ludgershall, 
Wilts  ((/.;'.),  in  1141,  until  exchanged  for  King  Stephen.  The  castle  was  repaired  in 
1 167  and  1202.  Henry  il.  had  taken  Rochester  Castle  from  Ik'cket's  keeping,  but 
it  was  restored  afterwards  to  Archbishop  Langton,  who,  in  1215,  placed  it  in  the 
keeping  of  William  d'Albini,  to  be  lield  in  the  interest  of  the  barons  ;  but  before 
they  could  send  a  force  to  assist  him  King  John  marched  against  the  place  with  a 
strong  battering  train  and  besieged  it  for  three  months.  Roger  of  Wendover  says 
that  the  military  engines  employed  did  little  harm,  the  great  injuries  being 
effected  bv  the  undermining  of  the  walls  and  towers,  by  which  the  tower  of  the 
S.E.  angle  was  no  doubt  destroyed.  Next  year  the  castle  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the 
army  of  the  Dauphin,  who,  at  the  death  of  John  soon  after,  handed  it  over 
to  his  son,  Henry  III.  This  king  spent  large  sums  upon  it,  but  as  in  the  case 
of  other  castles,  the  work,  as  shown  in  the  Liberate  Rolls,  was  generally  in  im- 
proving the  domestic  dwellings  and  arrangements,  in  halls  and  chapels,  painting, 
wainscotting  and  whitewashing,  work  which  for  the  most  part  has  perished. 

Rochester  Castle  was  never  again  a  part  of  the  See  :  in  1264  Henry  caused  it  to 
be  strengthened  and  furnished  with  everything  necessary  to  sustain  a  siege,  Roger 
de  Leybourne  being  castellan  or  constable,  and  having  John,  Earl  de  Warrenne, 
with  him.  Soon  after,  Simon  de  Montfort  proceeded  to  besiege  the  fortress,  but 
on  arriving  from  I^ondon  at  the  Medwav  he  found  a  hostile  Royal  army  ready  to 
dispute  the  passage,  whereon  he  sent  Gilbert  de  Clare,  the  young  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  round  to  invest  the  town  on  the  S.,  wiiile  he  proceeded  by  the  aid  of 
fire-ships  to  burn  the  bridge,  or  scare  its  defenders.  Then  he  managed  to  cross 
in  boats  and  attack  the  castle.  After  seven  days  of  assault,  in  which  he  made 
little  progress,  the  King,  bv  threatening  London,  obliged  him  to  raise  the  siege. 
Edward  III.  repaired  the  walls  in  1367-8,  and  during  the  rebellion  of  Wat  Tyler  the 
castle  was  attacked  and  partly  taken.  Thomas,  Lord  Cobhani,  was  its  constable 
trom  1413  till  his  death.  It  was  again  repaired  by  Edward  IV.  about  the  eleventh 
year  of  his  reign  ;  but  after  that  date  little  .iltention  was  paid  to  the  fabric,  which 
VOL.  I.  E 


3^  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

fell   by  neglect    into   decay   and   ruin,   nor  has   it   any   place   since    in    military 

history. 

A  drawing  of  it  in  1588  shows  its  four  turrets  domed  and  capped  with  vanes 

hke  the  White  Tower. 

In  1610  the  castle  was  alienated  from  the  Crown  by  James  I.  to  Sir  Anthony 
Weldon,  whose  family  held  it  long.  At  last,  in  1883,  it  was  purchased  by  the 
Corporation  of  Rochester,  and  thrown  open  to  the  public.  The  fabric  and  the 
grounds  around  are  now  carefully  tended. 

A  long  time  previously  all  that  was  movable  m  the  old  structure,  the  oak 
flooring  joists,  the  roofs,  and  such  stones  as  could  be  extracted  from  the 
building,  had  been  purchased  and  removed,  it  is  said,  for  the  construction  of  a 
brewery. 

The  chief  interest,  of  course,  centres  on  the  ruined  keep,  which  is  a  square 
building  of  about  70  feet  each  way  and  113  in  height,  its  walls  being  12  feet  thick, 
reduced  to  10  feet  at  the  top,  above  which  the  turrets  rise  another  12  feet.  The 
angles  are  supported  on  both  sides  by  flat  pilasters,  of  which  there  is  also  one  on 
the  centre  of  each  face,  the  S.E.  angle  being  rounded  and  projecting.  There  is  a 
centre  wall,  as  in  the  Tower  of  London,  which  divides  the  whole  structure  into 
two  nearly  equal  parts,  running  E.  and  \\'.,  and  rising  to  the  roof  level ;  in  the 
centre  of  this,  from  bottom  to  top,  rises  the  well  shaft,  conunimicating  at  each 
floor  for  the  water  supply. 

The  basement  is  attained,  as  at  London,  by  a  well  staircase,  in  the  N.E.  corner, 
which  is  carried  from  the  lowest  level  to  the  roof,  leading  to  each  floor,  and  to  the 
mural  galleries,  which,  as  in  the  White  Tower,  are  allowed  by  the  great  thickness 
of  the  walls.  Both  the  basement  and  the  first  floor,  which  may  have  been  for 
stores  or  lodgings  for  soldiers,  are  lighted  by  loopholes  only.  The  floorings  were 
all  carried  by  timber  joists.  The  main,  or  state  floor,  was  32  feet  in  height,  with 
two  tiers  of  windows,  the  upper  tier  having  a  mural  passage  in  front  of  them.  On 
this  floor  the  centre  wall  is  pierced  with  four  arched  openings,  from  one  chamber 
to  the  other,  and  a  large  doorway  on  the  N.E.  corner  gives  access  to  an  oratory,  or 
chapel,  built  ovei"  the  external  vestibule.  A  flight  of  steps  approaches  the 
mural  gallery,  which  is  carried  completely  round  the  tower,  being  3  feet  wide  and 
vaulted,  as  at  London.  These  two  rooms  must  have  been  draughty,  and  public, 
and  inconvenient  to  a  degree,  as  was  the  Council  Chamber  in  the  White  Tower  ; 
one  room  may  have  served  as  the  hall.  P^rom  the  gallery  twenty-three  steps  lead 
up  to  the  top  floor,  containing  two  handsome  rooms  25  feet  high,  with  larger 
windows  and  a  fine  view  ;  and  above  this  floor  are  the  battlements,  which  had  a 
rampart  walk. 

Affixed  to  the  N.  front  is  the  annex,  or  forebuilding,  which  protected  the 
entrance  to  the  keep,  composed  of  a  gateway,  staircase,  drawbridge  and  vestibule, 
with  the  chapel  over  it,  and  in  its  basement  a  prison.  Rochester  and  Hedingham, 
Esse.x,  resemble  each  other  and  are  probably  of  the  same  date. 


KENT 


35 


SALT  WOOD  (chief) 

BETWEEN  (he  ancient  city  of  Canterbury  and  (lie  site  of  the  Koman 
poit  of  Lenianis,  which  was  close  to  Hythe,  runs  in  an  absokitely  straiglit 
line  for  fifteen  miles,  chie  X.  and  S.,  the  old  Roman  Stone  Street,  termed  by 
Stukeley"a  solid  rock  of  stone,"  and  still  the  main  hij^lnvay.  A  mile  from  its 
termination,  and  N.W.  of  the  town  of  Hythe,  stand  tlie  remains  of  a  strong  castle 
picturesquely  situated  on  the  side  of  a  pleasant  little  valley  opening  down  to  the 
sea.  Kound  its  ivy-covered  walls  circles  a  very  broad  and  deep  moat,  whose 
waters  are  supplied  by  a 
little  brook  that  flows 
through  the  valley.  A 
Koman  origin  has  been 
given  to  this  fortress,  but 
the  citadel  and  camp  of 
that  warlike  nation  was 
placed  at  Lymiie,  oppo- 
site, on  the  declivity  of 
the  hill  which  overliung 
the  port,  and  is  now  called 
Stutfall  Castle,  which  was 
an  enclosure  of  twelve 
acres,  and  which,  though 
greatly  injiiied  bv  land- 
slips, is  well  wortliv  of  a 
visit.  The  original  castle 
at  Saltwood  was  Norman, 
and  one  of  the  towers  of 
the  outer  wall  is  certainly  of  that  woik,  though  the  greater  part  is  much  later,  and 
it  seems  likely  that  Hugo  de  JMontfort  was  its  founder.  As  frequently  occurs,  this 
castle  docs  not  appear  in  the  Domesday  Survey,  the  office  of  which  was  to  record 
the  lands  only,  but  this  Norman  certainly  possessed  the  manor  at  the  Survey  date, 
1086.  Hasted  states  that  it  was  rebuilt  by  Heiirv  de  Essex,  Baron  of  Kalegh,  and 
standard-bearer  to  Henry  II.  It  is  said  that  the  lands  were  Church  property  in 
Saxon  and  Danish  times,  and  when,  according  to  Matthew  Paris,  Henry  de  Essex 
was  defeated  in  a  trial  by  duel  for  cowardice  before  the  Welsh,  he  was  allowed  to 
live,  but  became  a  monk  in  Reading  Abbey,  his  possessions  being  escheated  to  the 
Crown.  Archbishop  Becket  then  claimed  them  on  behalf  of  his  See,  but  they 
were  only  restored  by  John  in  his  lirst  year,  after  which  time  they  were  granted 
to  vaiious  knights  who  held  under  the  Church,  with  the  King  ///  capHc.  This 
brings  us  to  the  most  interesting  occurrence  which  is  known  in  connection  with 
Saltwood,  namely  the  murder  of  Becket, 


SAI.TWOOn 


^6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

When  Henry's  demoniacal  outburst  of  fury  against  Backet  occurred  at  the 
Castle  of  Bur,  near  Bayeux  in  Normandy,  in  1170,  it  was  taken  hy  four  of  his 
aibicuhirii,  or  gentlemen  of  the  bed-cliamher,  as  a  point  of  lionour  "  to  rid  liini  of 
this  low-born  priest,"  and  they  actually  started  the  same  niglit  for  England  to 
work  his  will.  They  were  Reginald  Fitzurse,  Hugh  de  MoreviUe,  William  de 
Tracy,  and  Richard  le  Bret,  all,  except  Moreville,  men  of  Somerset,  and  proceeding 
by'different  roads  to  the  French  coast  they  crossed  the  Channel  on  the  following 
day  ;  two  of  them  landed  near  Dover,  and  the  other  two  at  Winchelsea,  and  all 
four'arrived  at  the  same  hour  at  the  fortress  of  Saltwood,  which  was  occupied  by 
a  great  enemy  of  Becket,  Randulph  de  Broc,  who  welcomed  them  and  their  mis- 
sion, he  having  three  days  before  been  excommunicated  by  the  Archbishop.  "In  the 
darkness  of  the  night  "—(following  Dean  Stanley's  compilation)—"  the  long  winter 
ni"ht  of  the  28th  of  December— it  was  believed  that,  with  candles  extinguished, 
and  not  even  seeing  each  other's  faces,  the  scheme  was  concerted  "  in  Saltwood 
Castle.  Early  next  morning,  levying  some  troopers  in  the  King's  name,  the  knights 
rode  off  along  the  Stone  Street  to  .Canterbury,  and  took  up  their  quarters  with 
Clarembald,  the  Abbot  of  St.  Augustine's  Abbey.  In  the  afternoon  they  rode  to 
the  great  gateway  of  tlie  Archbishop's  palace,  and  leaving  their  weapons  outside, 
with  gowns  over  their  mail,  they  sought  Becket  in  his  private  apartment,  where  he 
sat  with  his  monks  after  the  3  o'clock  banquet.  The  four  knights  confronted 
him  here,  and  roughly  made  demands  in  the  King's  name,  which  he  put  aside, 
and  a  violent  altercation  took  place  ;  whereon  the  knights  retired  with  threats,  and 
passing  through  the  palace  shouting  out  "  To  arms,"  proceeded  to  take  off  their 
gowns  and  to  arm  themselves.  Meantime  the  Archbishop,  though  fully  aware  of 
his  peril,  but  refusing  to  secrete  himself,  had  been  hurried  by  the  frightened  monks 
into  the  cathedral,  and  he  was  ascending  the  stairs,  which  then,  as  now,  led  from 
the  N.  transept  to  the  choir,  in  order  to  join  in  the  vespers  that  had  commenced, 
when  the  knights  rushed  into  the  transept,  still  known  by  its  ancient  name  of  "The 
Martyrdom."  It  was  then  about  5  o'clock  on  the  29th  of  December,  and  night 
was  gathering  in  ;  the  sacred  building  was  lighted  only  by  a  few  lamps  in  the 
shrines,  and  in  the  gloom  the  knights  could  but  just  discern  a  few  figures 
mounting  the  steps.  "Stay!"  shouted  one  of  them.  Another:  "Where  is 
Thomas  Becket,  traitor  to  the  King?"  and  "Where  is  the  Archbishop?"  To 
which  the  reply  came,  "Reginald,  here  I  am,  no  traitor,  but  the  Archbishop  and 
Priest  of  God  ;  what  do  you  want  ?  "  and  Becket  descended  to  the  transept  and 
confronted  his  assailants.  Here  they  closed  round  him,  crying,  "Absolve  the 
bishops  whom  you  have  excommunicated;"  when,  turning  on  Fitzurse,  he 
demanded  why  he  came  armed  into  the  church.  Fitzurse  pressed  an  axe  against 
his  breast  and  said  "  You  shall  die— I  will  tear  out  your  heart."  Then  a  scuffle 
ensued  in  which  Becket  hurled  Tracy  to  the  ground,  and  called  Fitzurse  by  an 
opprobrious  name,  whereon  the  latter  struck  at  him,  only  dashing  off  the  cap, 
when  Tracy,  rising,  dealt  a  heavy  blow  which  was  intercepted  by  a  monk,  whose 


KENT  37 

arm  fell  broken,  while  the  sword,  ff:v/.'\n}<  the  head  of  Becket,  fell  on  his  shoulder. 
Two  blows  followed  :  the  Archbishop  fell  on  iiis  face,  and  le  Bret  struck  him 
as  lie  lay  a  tieniendous  sword-cut,  wliich  seveied  the  top  of  the  skull,  tlie  sword 
being  siiivered  on  the  marble  pavement — a  \eritable  (Itibhulliu — whilst  one  of  the 
followers  scattered  the  dead  prelate's  brain  with  his  sword.  Then  the  party  of 
murderers,  leaving  their  victim,  rushed  away  to  plunder  his  palace,  after  which, 
taking  horses  from  his  stable,  they  rode  away  through  the  night  back  to  Saltwood 
Castle,  with  no  very  enviable  feelings,  one  would  suppose,  about  their  cowardly 
and  sacrilegious  deed.  Next  day  they  rode  forty  miles  to  South  Mailing,  one  of  the 
Archbishop's  manors,  near  Lewes  in  Sussex,  where,  entering  the  house,  the  tradition 
goes,  the  knights  flung  off  their  arms  on  a  large  dining  table  in  the  hall  ; 
"suddenly  the  table  started  back,  and  threw  its  burden  on  the  ground,"  refusing 
to  bear  it  ;  and  this  occurred  twice — the  earliest  instance.  Dean  Stanley  remarks, 
of  a  "  rapping,  leaping,  and  turning  table."  From  this  place  they  went  through 
the  land  to  Yorkshire,  and  took  shelter  at  Knaresborough  Castle,  a  Royal  fortress 
then  in  the  possession  of  one  of  them,  Hugh  de  Moreville,  where  they  remained 
for  a  year. 

After  King  John's  restitution  of  the  castle  and  manor  to  the  See,  it  so  remained 
imtil  exchanged  by  Cranmer,  in  31  Henry  VIII.,  for  other  lands  with  the  Crown, 
the  castle  being  occasionally  used  as  a  palace  by  the  archbishops. 

The  area  enclosed  bv  the  outei'  walls  is  elliptical,  the  large  outei'  court  being 
until  of  late  years,  converted  into  a  farmyard,  which  may  have  been  always  its 
purpose.  (Parker.)  Across  the  moat  is  the  splendid  gatehouse,  a  complete  house 
in  itself,  of  which  arrangement  it  is  a  very  fair  example  :  it  was  chiefly  built 
(temp.  Richard  II.)  by  Archbishop  Courtenay,  who  held  the  See  from  1381,  and 
whose  arms  it  bears  in  front  ;  he  expended  large  sums  upon  the  place. 

Between  the  two  round  towers  flanking  the  gateway  the  machecoulis  are  quite 
perfect,  and  under  the  vaulting  are  the  portcullis  groove  and  the  gate.  The 
archway,  which  was  built  up,  has  overhead  the  piincipal  apartment,  with  smaller 
chambers  leading  from  it  in  the  turrets,  each  of  which  contains  a  staircase 
and  a  garderobc,  all  cleverly  arranged  for  economy  of  space.  The  chambers  all 
have  fireplaces  with  flat  Perpendicular  arches.  There  was  also  an  inner  port- 
cullis, and  the  floor  of  the  chamber  above  is  arranged  with  holes  for  pouring 
burning  material  upon  assailants  beneath  the  vault.  The  high  embattled  walls  of 
the  inner  court  are  more  perfect  than  those  of  the  outer  one,  and  here  existed  the 
lodgings,  which  remained  for  ages  in  a  ruined  state,  the  walls  of  the  hall  with 
three  window  arches  on  each  side  survi\'ing.  The  whole  is  fourteenth  eentuiy 
work.  (Parker.)  Stukeley,  writing  in  1722,  says  :  "The  floor  of  the  ruinous  chappel 
is  strongly  vaulted  ;  in  the  middl  of  the  court  is  a  larg  square  well,  which  is  the 
only  thing  i  saw  that  look'd  like  iviiuiii." 

In  the  first  Ed.  VI.,  Saltwood  was  granted  to  John  Dudley,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
and    in    the    first    year    of    Mary    to    Edward    Fynes,     Lord    Clinton,    in    whose 


38  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

time  the  park  was  cultivated.  Since  then  various  famiHes  have  owned  the 
place,  wliich  was  purchased  some  years  ago  by  Mr.  WiiHam  Deedes  of 
Sandling  from  Sir  Brook  Bridges,  Bart.,  of  Goodneston.  It  was  at  one  time  the 
residence  of  tlic  Lord  Wardens  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  but  the  earthquakes  of  1580, 
1692,  and  1755  reduced  the  fabric  to  a  ruinous  condition,  and  thus  it  continued 
until' 1882  when,  by  a  very  large  expenditure,  and  \\ith  much  care  and  judgment, 
the  old  castle  was  completely  restored,  all  the  ancient  work  being  retained 
and  repaired  wherever  possible.  The  grand  double  gatehouse  was  included  in 
the  restoration,  and  a  fine  new  block  of  buildings  was  erected  behind  it,  in  good 
keeping,  the  whole  forming  an  excellent  country  residence,  and  giving  an 
instance  of  a  castle,  upwards  of  500  years  old,  successfully  adapted  to  modern 
requirements.     It  is  now  the  property  of  Mrs.  Deedes. 

SAND  GATE  {minor) 

SANDGATE  is  another  of  the  block-house  forts  built  by  Henry  VIII.,  on  the 
site,  as  is  supposed,  of  a  more  ancient  edifice.  It  is  much  on  the  same 
plan  as  the  forts  of  Sandown  and  Walmer,  but  has  been  entirely  altered  on  the 
seaward  face,  and  now  is  somewhat  in  the  shape  of  an  ace  of  clubs,  the  double 
bastions  being  actually  in  the  street  of  the  town,  and  the  front  one  projecting 
below  high  water  line.  This  part  was  converted  into  one  of  the  Martello  towers, 
erected  bv  William  Pitt,  in  1806,  during  the  French  War,  to  protect  all  assailable 
points  on  the  line  of  the  S.E.  coast  where  a  landing  might  be  effected. 

The  previous  castle  was  one  existing  temp.  Richard  II.,  who,  in  1398,  after  he 
had  banished  his  cousin,  Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  at  the  lists  of  Coventry  for  ten 
years  (sec  Baginton,  Warwick),  wrote  letters  to  the  captain  of  his  castle  of 
Sandgate,  commanding  him  to  admit  his  kinsman,  Henry  of  Lancaster,  Duke  of 
Hereford,  with  his  familv,  horses  and  attendants,  to  tarry  there  for  six  weeks  to 
refresh  himself.  This  must  have  been  on  Bolingbroke's  journey  into  banishment 
abroad,  whence  he  returned  within  a  year,  to  depose  Richard  and  fill  the  throne 
himself.  In  1588  Elizabeth  lodged  in  this  fort  when  making  her  progress  through 
Kent  to  inspect  the  defences  adopted  against  the  projected  Spanish  invasion. 


SANDOWN   {non-existent) 

SANDOWN  is  one  of  the  principal  coast  defences  constructed  by  Henry  VIII. 
at  the  time  when  a  foreign  invasion  by  the  Catholic  powers  was  believed  to 
be  imminent.  It  was  the  largest  of  these  coast  forts,  and  was,  throughout  the 
seventeenth  century,  provided  with  a  captain,  or  governor,  and  a  small  garrison. 
Placed  near  the  town  of  Deal  it  was  well  removed  from  the  sea,  and  people  now- 
living  remembei-  when  the  waves  did  not  often  approach  it,  but  for  many  years  the 
sea  has  been  encroaching  on  the  shore  towards    Pegwell  Bay,  and  has  at   last 


KENT  39 

undennincd  ;i  huge  pait  of  the  fort.  The  place  became  a  source  of  clanger  to 
the  people  frequenting  the  shore,  and  in  February  1894  it  was  partly  destroyed 
with  guncotton  by  the  Royal  Engineers,  two  flank  casemates,  and  a  central  one 
facing  seaward,  being  blown  down. 

There  is  little  recorded  about  this  fortress,  and  the  historic  interest  attaching  to 
it  arises  from  its  having  served  as  the  prison  of  Colonel  Hutchinson,  an  officer  of 
Cromwell's  arniv,  whose  fame  is  chieflv  derived  from  the  memoirs  of  him  and  his 
times  by  his  wife  ;  the  portion  lelaling  to  Sandown  is  pathetic,  as  he  died  in  con- 
finement here.  Colonel  Hutchinson  was  a  cousin  of  Ireton,  and  was  appointed 
Governor  of  Nottingham  Castle  ((/.!'.)  in  1643,  which  post  he  held  stoutly  against 
the  forces  of  the  King.  Then  he  became  a  member  of  the  Parliament,  and  was 
much  employed  by  Cromwell,  who,  in  iCm),  appointed  him  a  member  of  the  first 
Council  of  State,  but  after  the  breaking  up  of  this  Parliament  by  Cromwell, 
Hutchinson  left  him,  and  retii'ed  into  piix'ate  life  at  his  own  propertv  of  Owethorpe, 
Notts.  Here  in  October  1663,  at  the  J^estoration,  he  was  arrested,  brought 
prisoner  to  Newark,  and  thence  to  I.ondon,  where  he  was  placed  in  the  Tower,  a 
close  prisoner,  on  the  charge  of  conspiracy.  In  April  1664  Hutchinson  was 
removed  to  Sandown,  whither  his  wife  accompanied  him,  living  at  Deal,  as  she 
was  not  allowed  quarters  in  the  fort.  His  widow  describes  it  as  a  lamentable, 
ruined  old  place,  the  rooms  all  out  of  repair,  not  weather  proof,  with  no  kind  of 
proper  accommodation  either  iov  lodging  or  diet,  or  anv  conveniency  of  life. 
The  chamber  appointed  him  was  a  thoroughfare,  and  he  had  to  glaze  it ;  it  had 
five  doors,  one  of  which  opened  on  a  gun  platform  exposed  to  the  bleak  air  of  the 
sea,  which  at  times  washed  the  front  of  the  walls,  "and  though  these  walls  were 
four  yards  thick,  yet  it  rained  in  through  the  cracks  in  them  ;  and  then  one  might 
sweep  a  peck  of  saltpetre  off  of  them  eveiy  day,  which  stood  in  a  perpetual  sweat 
upon  them." 

The  imprisonment  is  represented  on  tiie  tomb  at  Owethorpe  as  "  harsh  and 
strict,"  and  the  account  of  it  given  in  the  memoirs  certainlv  bears  this  out.  The 
wife  was  not  permitted  to  share  her  husband's  captivity,  but  lived  with  her  son 
and  daughter  at  "the  cut-throat  town  of  Deal,"  and  walked  every  day  to  him  to 
dinner,  "and  back  again  at  night  with  horrible  toil  and  inconvenience."  The 
governor  too.  Captain  Freeman,  was  a  lough  and  sour  person,  and  they  endured 
much  extortion  and  uncivil  treatment  at  his  hands.  Yet  the  colonel  bore  it  all  so 
cheerfullv  that  he  was  never  more  pleasant  and  contented  in  his  whole  life. 
"  When  no  other  recreations  were  left  him,  he  diverted  himself  with  sorting  and 
shadowing  cockle  shells,  which  his  wife  and  daughter  gathered  loi-  inm. "  Alter 
some  time  an  order  was  with  difficulty  obtained  giving  him  leave  to  walk  by  the 
sea,  with  a  keeper,  which  made  the  imprisonment  less  irksome.  In  .August,  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  left  to  go  home  on  account  of  her  children,  and  to  get  supplies  for 
the  colonel,  who  li.id  then  fallen  into  b.id  health,  being  seized  with  fever  anil 
ague,  and  the  illness,  due  to  the  inclemency  of  his  lodgings,  increased  so  rapidly 


^o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

that  lie  sank  and  clicd  September  ii,  1O64,  aged  forty-eight  only,  the  doctors 
making  affidavit  "that  the  place  had  killed  him." 

The  attachment  of  Colonel  Hutcliinson  to  his  wife  has  a  somewhat  romantic 
story.  This  kidy,  the  authoress  of  tlie  famous  memoirs,  was  Lucy  Apsley, 
dau"hter  of  Sir  Allan  Apsley,  who  for  fourteen  years  was  lieutenant  of  the  Tower 
of  London  (died  in  1630),  by  his  second  wife  Lucy,  daughter  of  Sir  John  St.  John 
of  Lidyard.  Hutchinson  fell  deeply  in  love  with  this  beautiful  maiden,  before 
ever  seein"  her,  from  the  account  of  Iier  given  him  by  one  of  her  young  sisters, 
and  became  engaged  to  her.  But  Lucy  was  seized  with  the  small-pox,  "  which 
made  her  the  most  deformed  person  that  could  be  seen  for  a  great  while  after  she 
recovered."  However,  Hutchinson  "  was  nothing  troubled  at  it,  but  married  her 
as  soon  as  she  was  able  to  quit  the  chamber,  when  all  who  saw  her  were 
affrighted  to  look  upon  her  ;  but  Heaven  recompensed  his  justice  and  constancy 
by  restoring  her  as  well  as  before." 

The  trace  of  Sandown  is  very  similar  to  that  of  its  neighbours,  the  forts  of  Deal 
and  Walnier  :  a  low  central  circular  tower,  surrounded  by  from  four  to  six 
semicircular  turrets,  or  casemates,  with  a  gun  platform.  Outside  these  is  the  ditch, 
with  a  masonry  counterscarp,  concentric  with  the  bastions.  Since  the  destruction 
of  the  bastions  undermined  by  the  sea,  in  1894,  the  Corporation  of  Deal  have 
acquired  from  the  War  Office  what  was  left,  for  the  sum  of  £t,^,  for  the  purposes 
of  sea  defence. 


SANDWICH   {non-existent) 

THE  river  Stour,  coming  from  Canterbury,  now  meanders  for  many  a  mile 
through  fertile  pastures  on  its  way  by  Richborough  to  Sandwich,  and 
thence,  turning  back  in  a  devious  course,  flows  into  the  sea  in  Pegwell  Bay  ;  but  in 
ancient  times  it  debouched  at  Stourmouth  direct  into  a  creek  which  bounded  the 
southern  shore  of  the  eastern  promontory  of  Kent  ;  thence,  passing  along  north- 
ward from  Stourmouth  in  a  broad  channel,  it  found  its  way  into  the  estuary  of 
the  Thames  close  to  Reculbium  (Reculvers),  thus  cutting  off  from  the  mainland  of 
Kent  a  portion  which  is  still  called  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  although  for  many  centuries 
no  longer  an  island.  Just  where  this  creek  had  originally  opened  to  the  waters  of 
the  Channel  was,  on  the  N.  or  island  side,  the  little  sheltered  haven  of  Ebbesflete, 
where  the  Saxons  first  landed  in  England,  and  where  in  597  Augustine  commenced 
his  divine  mission  in  this  land.  On  the  opposite  side,  upon  a  cliff  below  which 
the  river  now  flows  towards  Sandwich,  stands  the  ruin  of  Richborough  Castle, 
being  the  outer  wall  of  the  Roman  camp  of  Rutupi;e,  wliich  guarded  this 
chief  port  of  the  1-ioman  navy,  and  their  settlement  below  of  Stonar,  or  Stonore, — 
a  city  that  has  disappeared,  and  from  which  the  town  of  Sandwich  was  perhaps 
built.  Stonore,  or  Estonore,  as  it  was  written,  if  not  on  an  island,  was  at  the  S. 
end  of  a  promontory  of  Thanet  stretching  almost  to  Sandwich  :  from  this  place 


KENT  41 

it  was  divided  by  tlic  river  Sfour,  which  here  met  the  sea.  It  was  used  by  the 
Romans  as  their  port  on  tlie  Thanet  side,  and  was  perhaps  founded  by  them  ;  in 
Saxon  times  it  was  called  Limdenwic.  But  in  1365  Stonore  was  nearly  destroyed 
by  a  great  inundation  of  the  sea,  and  it  was  burnt  by  the  French  in  1385  ;  Leland 
says  that  nothing  then  remained  of  tlie  place  but  Stonore  Church. 

Of  Sandwich,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Stour  channel,  mention  is  made  in 
the  seventh  century,  and  in  the  eleventh  it  had  become  "the  most  famous  of  all 
the  ports  of  England."  This,  no  doubt,  was  due  entirely  to  its  position  at  the 
S.  end  of  the  navigable  tidal  channel,  which  was  the  common  passage  for  shipping 
fiom  the  south  to  the  Tlianies,  instead  of  sailing,  as  now,  round  the  North 
Foreland.  Harold  and  his  father,  Earl  Godwin,  sailing  from  Dover  in  1052, 
turned  in  here  between  Sandwich  and  Stonore,  and  passing  beneath  Kichborough, 
came  by  the  before-mentioned  channel,  then  called  The  Wantsum,  round  the 
W.  end  of  Thanet,  to  tiie  point  called  Xorthmouth,  at  Reculvers,  where  they  met  the 
estuary  of  the  Thames,  and  so  by  it  to  London.  And  as  long  as  this  highway  for 
ships  existed,  Sandwich  flourished,  but  when  the  action  of  the  waves,  and  the  set 
of  the  tides,  banked  up  the  outfall  here,  so  that  the  silt  and  deposits  of  the  Stour 
river  could  not  be  carried  off,  then  gradually  the  Wantsum  became  shallower,  and 
at  last  filled  up,  and  at  once  Sandwich  began  to  decay.  The  entire  waterway  was 
open  from  Sandwich  to  Xorthmouth  till  1450-60,  but  a  "  caryke "  sunk  in  the 
haven  in  1464  (cii.)  "did  much  hurt,  and  gether  a  great  bank,"  and  in  1485 
bridges  began  to  take  the  place  of  ferries  in  Wantsum,  the  passage  having  got 
choked  with  "wose,  mudde,  and  sande."  Then  the  elevation  of  the  foreshore 
caused  the  sea  to  recede  from  Sandwich,  until  at  the  present  day  it  is  two  miles 
from  the  sea,  and  is  a  decayed,  forgotten  locality. 

It  was  the  oldest  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  and  was  a  favourite  point  of  departure 
for,  and  arrival  from,  the  Continent,  on  account  of  the  narrowness  of  the  passage 
across  ;  and  Sandwich  was  also  frequented,  after  the  canonisation  of  Becket,  from 
its  nearness  to  the  Canterbury  shrine.  Becket  escaped  hither  from  the 
Northampton  council  {scy  Northami-tox),  after  hiding  at  Eastry  (three  miles 
off),  a  cell  of  Canterbury ;  and  here  he  landed  on  his  return  from  exile  in 
December  1170,  just  before  his  murder  (.w  S.\LT\VOOD,  KiiNT).  Richard  1.  landed 
here  returning  from  his  Austrian  prison,  and  proceeded  barefoot  to  Canterbury  to 
return  thanks.  Kchvaid  111.  u-,ccl  the  port  frequently  in  his  foreign  expeditions, 
and  the  castle  is  mentioned  in  lii^  time.  It  stood  at  the  S.E.  of  the  town,  near 
the  entrance  to  the  port.  The  custodian  of  this  king's  castle  was  appointed  by 
the  governor  of  Dover  Castle.  It  was  held  in  1471  by  the  bastard  Falconbridge, 
who  strongly  fortified  himself  there  with  some  8000  of  his  followers  against 
Edward  IV.,  but  on  the  King's  approach  it  was  surrendered,  with  thnteen 
ships,  on  the  promise  of  a  full  pardon,  though  Falconbridge  was  afterwards 
executed  at  Southampton.  (Baker's  Chronicle.)  Nothing  whatever  remains  ol 
this  castle  now.  The  town  was  defended  by  .1  wall  anil  live  gates,  of  which  one 
VOL.   I.  '■' 


42  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

only  remains,  namely,  the  Fisher  Gate,  towards  tiie  iiaven,  and  near  it  is  the 
barbican,  a  Tudor  work,  on  the  Kamsgate  road  from  the  N.  This  castle  is  not 
mentioned  by  Leland. 


SHURLAND  {non-existent) 

IX  the  parish  of  Eastchurch,  in  the  Isle  of  Sheppey,  lying  E.  of  Minster  on 
hiiih  •'round,  is  the  mansion  of  vShurland,  once  apparently  a  grand  and 
spacious  building,  reared  on  the  site  of  a  former  castle,  the  manor  of  Shurland 
having  anciently  owners  of  this  surname. 

Sir  Jeffrey  de  Shurland  was  the  first  known  possessor,  in  the  time  of  Henry  111., 
in  the  ninth  year  of  whose  reign  he  was  constable  of  Dover  Castle.  His  son, 
Robert  de  Shurland,  was  a  warrior  of  some  importance  during  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.,  and  attended  that  monarch  at  the  siege  of  Canlaverock  together  with 
other  Kentish  gentlemen,  receiving  in  consequence  of  his  services  the  honour 
of  knighthood.  He  had  a  grant  of  wreckage  for  his  estates,  a  privilege  which  gave 
a  man  whatever  he  could  reach,  riding  into  the  water,  and  touch  with  the  point 
of  his  lance. 

Sir  Robert  is  buried  at  Minster  under  a  tomb  within  an  arch  on  the  S.  wall  of 
the  church,  where  he  is  represented  lying  cross-legged  at  full  length,  and  there  is 
also  a  horse's  head  sculptured  in  the  marble  at  the  right  hand.  The  signification 
of  this  is  given  in  a  story  current  still  in  the  country,  which  tells  how  this  lord 
of  Sheppey  having  caused  a  friar  to  be  buried  in  a  grave  in  which  he  had  refused 
to  inter  a  corpse  until  his  fee  should  be  paid,  and  thereby  having  incurred  great 
odium  and  also  iii'osecution,  executed  the  apocryphal  feat  of  riding  on  horseback 
out  to  sea  for  two  miles  in  order  to  intercept  the  Queen,  on  her  passage  that  way, 
and  thus  obtained  pardon  for  his  act.  His  good  horse  bore  him  back  to  land,  when 
it  is  said  he  met  an  old  woman  who  told  him  that,  some  day,  this  horse  would  be 
the  death  of  him  ;  whereon  de  Shurland  at  once  stabbed  the  horse.  Years  after 
he  is  said,  in  crossing  the  beach,  to  have  come  on  the  bleached  bones  of  his  horse, 
and  in  defiance  to  have  given  a  violent  kick  to  the  skull,  when  a  piece  of  bone 
pierced  his  foot  and  by  mortification  caused  his  death,  as  predicted.  (See  the 
"Ingoldsby  Legends,"  "Grey  Dolphin.")  His  daughter  and  heiress,  Margaret, 
married  William  Cheyney,  whose  descendant,  Sir  Thomas  Cheyney  (temp. 
Elizabeth),  was  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports  ;  her  tomb  also  is  in  Minster  church. 
Sir  Thomas  rebuilt  the  mansion  of  his  day  with  materials  from  his  former  residence 
'it  Chilham,  and  lived  here  in  nuich  honour,  being  succeeded  by  his  son  Henry, 
who  was  a  spendthrift.  The  present  house  is  built  on  the  site  of  the  old  castle,  of 
which  the  gatehouse  remains. 


KENT  43 

S I S  S I  X  G  H  U  R  S  T   (minor) 

SISSIXGHl'RST  originally  called  Saxcnlicrst,  lies  in  a  secluded  position  near 
one  of  the  many  feeders  of  the  river  Kotlier,  among  the  woods  near  dan- 
brook,  on  the  S.  borders  (jf  the  county.  There  is  a  mention  of  one  Stephen  de 
Saxingherst  aitout  tiie  year  uJ^o,  and  a  charter  of  1255  is  witnessed  by  Galfridus 
de  Saxingherst. 

The  manor  passed  by  a  female  heii'  into  the  name  of  Berham,  and  Richard, 
son  of  Henry  de  Berham,  resided  here  in  the  fifteenth  century;  afterwards  the 
property  was  possessed  by  his  descendants  till  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  \T!., 
when  a  portion  of  Sissinghiust  was  alienated  to  one  Thomas  Baker.  Little  is 
known  about  the  jilace,  but  there  must  have  been  a  man(jr-house,  of  which  the 
moat,  which  still  exists,  is  a  relic.  The  situation  is  low,  as  being  the  better  adapted 
for  water  defences. 

After  the  sale  a  mansion  was  built  here  bv  the  grandson  of  the  purchaser, 
namely,  Sir  John  Baker,  who  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons  and 
Attorney-General  ;  he  was  ambassador  to  Denmark  from  1526  to  1530.*  He 
acquired  the  whole  manor,  and  erected  a  splendid  house  of  brick,  the  extensive 
ruins  of  which  remain.  (In  Hasted's  "Kent"  is  given  a  view  of  it,  as  in  1551.) 
The  plan  of  it  was  a  huge  block  of  buildings,  enclosing  a  quadrangular  courtyard, 
into  which  the  principal  rooms  looked.  The  front  of  it  is  a  highly  ornamented 
fa9ade,  with  four  gables,  bav  windows,  and  a  handsome  porch,  and  there  are 
wings  to  match.  There  were  towers  facing  the  centre.  Horace  Walpole  speaks 
of  being  there  in  the  year  1752  ;  he  says  :  "The  park  is  in  ruins,  and  the  house  in 
ten  times  greater  ruins.  The  court  is  perfect  and  veiy  beautiful  ;  a  good 
apartment,  and  a  line  gallery,  120  feet  bv  iX.  'Hr'  back  of  the  house  is  nothing 
but  lath  and  plaster."      Hence  its  speedy  decay. 

Queen  Mary  loaded  Sir  John  with  wealth,  giving  him  the  manor  of  High 
Haider,  forfeited  by  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest 
son.  Sir  Richaid,  who  had  the  honour  of  entertaining  here  Queen  Elizabeth  on 
her  return  from  Rxc  in  1573.  His  nephew,  another  Sir  Ricliard,  was  the  author 
of  Baker's  Chronicle,  and  died  in  1645.  Upon  the  death  of  Sir  John,  in  i6()i, 
his  estates  were  divided  between  his  four  daughters,  but  at  the  beginning  of  this 
centuiy  they  were  once  more  united  in  the  piopeity  of  Sir  Horace  Mann,  Bart. 

Long  uninhabited,  the  house  was  during  the  war  at  the  end  of  the  last  century 
acquired  for  the  puipose  of  holding  French  prisoners  of  war,  and  thus  it 
obtained  the  name  of  Sissinghurst  Castle.  The  greater  part  has  since  been 
pulled  down,  and  part  has  been  lilted  up  as  a  parish  poor-house. 

It  is  now  the  proptitv  of  Connless  Amherst,  who  inherited  it  from  her  fatlier, 

*  Sir  Samuel  Baker,  the  discoverer  of  tlic  lake  Albert  Nyanza,  was  a  lineal  descendant 
of  the  brotlicr  of  tliis  man. 


^^  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Earl  Connvallis.     Tlie  s^rcat  entrance  remains,  together  with  a  few  fragments  of 
the  buildings. 


ST.    LEONARD'S  TOWER,   WEST   MALLING  (mmor) 

MR.  CLARK  states  that  St.  Leonard's  Tower  is  interesting  as  being  one  of  the 
first  Norman  keeps  and  earhest   miUtary  buildings  since    Roman  times 
constructed   in    England.     It   is   ail    that    remains   of   the   castle   built   here   by 

Gundulph,  Bishop  of  Rochester, 
the  architect  of  the  White  Tower 
of  London,  who  also  founded 
near-by  the  religious  house  of 
nuns,  of  which  there  are  still 
considerable  remains,  and  the 
church  of  West,  or  Town,  Mai- 
ling. The  tower  stands  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  S.W.  of  the 
parish  church,  upon  a  ledge  of 
sandstone  rock,  on  the  E.  side  of 
a  short  valley,  which  formed  its 
defence  on  the  W.,  together  \\ith 
a  small  stream  that  falls  into  the 
Medway,  coming  from  the  ham- 
let of  St.  Leonards. 

West  Mailing  was  gifted  by 
Edmund,  King  of  the  Angles 
and  Mercia,  about  945,  to  the 
Bishops  of  Rochester,  but  was 
granted  by  the  Conqueror  to  his 
half  brother  Odo,  the  warrior- 
Bishop  of  Bayeux,  from  whom 
it  was  recovered,  with  the 
church,  at  a  solemn  assembly 
oi  the  whole  comity,  held  by 
the  King's  command  in  1076  at 
Pinenden  Heath  by  Archbishop 
Lanfranc,  who  afterwards  restored  both  to  Bishop  Gundulph,  and  thus  it  is 
described  in  the  Domesday  Survey  four  years  later.  Gundulph,  in  1090 
(4  William  II.),  founded  the  abbey  of  Benedictine  nuns  here,  and  gave  to  it  the 
manor  and  cliurch  of  West  Mailing  ;  and  here  also  he  built  his  own  residence,  a 
little  W.  of  the  abbey,  the  origin  of  which  appears  to  have  been  lost  sight  of 
till  lately.     Grose  says  it    is    "a   very  ancient    stone    building,  coeval    with    the 


WEST   MALLIXt; 


KENT  45 

abbey,  and  called  the-  Old  jail  ;  it  lias  narrow  windows  and  walls  of  j^icat 
thickness.  Tradition  says  this  was  the  prison  belonging  to  tlie  abbey  ;  tliat  the 
underground  or  cellar  part  was  tiie  dungeon,  and  the  upper  part  the  prison  for 
persons  guilty  of  smaller  offences.  At  present  (1762)  it  is  used  for  drying  and 
storing  hops." 

Gundulph's  Tower  is  a  rectangular  building,  about  32  feet  square  at  the  base, 
and  60  feet  high.  In  Philipott's  "Villare  Cantiaiuim  "  a  drawing  is  given  of  it, 
showing  the  light  and  slightly  projecting  pilasters  at  the  corners,  with  a  single 
pilaster  in  the  centre  of  two  of  the  faces  ;  the  summit  where  the  parapet  should  be 
is  much  iiiiiied  ;  four  and  live  narrow  circular-headed  lights,  or  rather  loops,  appear 
on  the  lower  storey,  and  larger  ones,  of  the  same  ciiaracter,  upon  the  upper  stage, 
two  on  eacli  opposite  face.  On  the  S.  face  is  a  plain,  round-headed  doorway,  now 
walled  up,  10  feet  above  the  ground,  which  must  have  been  reached  by  an  outer 
staircase,  and  in  the  N.E.  angle  is  a  spiral  staircase  from  grountl  to  roof.  There 
are  no  fireplaces  or  mural  galleries,  and  the  floors,  as  is  so  usual  in  Xorman  keeps, 
were  of  timber.  The  masonry  is  of  rough,  uncoursed  rubble,  and  from  the 
S.E.  corner  below  the  towei"  is  seen  a  fragment  of  the  curtain  wall,  25  feet 
high,  hut  nothing  can  he  known  as  to  the  rest  of  the  castle  buildings,  which 
probably  extended  eastwards  on  the  level  ground. 

The  tower  at  Mailing  was  examined  in  1840,  Parker  says,  by  a  party  of  French 
antiquaries,  and  was  acknowledged  by  them  to  be  of  earlier  date  than  anything 
of  the  kind  existing  in  Noi'in;uul\-. 

The  manor  of  Mailing  was  sold  by  Henry  VIII.  to  Craiuiier,  the  archbishop  ; 
afterwards  Klizabeth  granted  it  to  Sir  Henry  Brooke,  fifth  son  of  Lord  Cobham, 
from  whom  it  passed  to  the  Pierpoints  and  Bretts,  and  was  given  by  James  1.  to 
John  Kayney  (Bart,  in  1641),  from  whose  family  it  came  to  the  Honywood 
familv. 


SUTTON   VALENCP:  (nuuor) 

SUTTON  VALENCE  was  another  of  the  fortresses  placed  near  the  important 
road  running  from  Rochester  towards  Winchelsea,  the  scanty  remains  of 
which  are  upon  the  hill  near  the  church.  Philipott  says  that  William  de  Valence, 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  was  lord  of  the  fee,  "and  certainly  founded  the  castle  that 
now  looks  with  such  venerable  magnificence  down  on  the  plain." 

This  William  was  half-brother  to  the  King,  Henry  111.,  for  on  the  death  of 
King  John,  his  widow,  Oueen  Isabella,  had  married  her  first  love,  Hugh  le  Brun, 
Count  de  la  Marche,  a  gallant  Ironhadour,  whose  songs  aie  still  extant  (Blaauw)  ; 
and  on  the  death  of  the  queen  dowager,  their  children  were  sent  over  to  the  care 
of  King  Heniy.  William,  the  eldest,  was,  in  1 247,  made  governor  of  Goodrich 
Castle,  and  married  to  Joan  de  Monchensi,  a  great  heiress,  who  brought  him  the 
Pembroke    estates,    from    which    he    afterwards    acquiied    the    title    of    Earl    of 


^6  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

Pfinbroke  ;  he  adhered  to  his  brother's  side  throughout  the  Barons'  War,  and 
fouglit  at  Lewes.  When  Aymer  de  Valence  died  s.p.  male,  his  daughter  and  heiress 
Isabel,  married  Lawrence,  Lord  Hastings,  who  then  became  Earl  of  Pembroke 
and  Lord  of  Sutton  Valence,  and  from  him  the  property  descended  to  his 
grandson,  John  Hastings,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  the  last  of  that  name,  who 
transmitted  his  title  of  the  place  to  Reginald  Gray  and  Richard  Talbot  (temp. 
Henrv  1\'.),  for  they  held  the  manor  (14  Richard  II.).  Afterwards  the  Cliffords, 
of  Bobbing  Court,  were  proprietors,  until  Nicholas  Clifford  died,  leaving  an 
iieiress,  Mildred,  who  was  married  to  four  husbands  ;  Sutton  going  to  the  family 
of  her  first  husband,  Sir  Edward  Harper,  who  sold  the  property  to  Sir  Edward 
Hales,  and  his  family  long  continued  there. 

There  is  a  fragment  existing  of  the  wall  of  the  keep,  being  First  Pointed 
work  of  Henry  III.  In  the  wall,  at  some  height  above  the  ground,  are  several 
curious  cells,  contrived  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  the  use  of  which  has  not  been 
explained.  Two  separate  rooms  of  the  ivy-covered  keep  may  still  be  discerned ; 
the  loopholed  walls  of  it  aix'  20  feet  high,  but  seem  to  have  had  another  storey  ; 
it  is  built  of  freestone  and  flints,  with  some  tile  and  thin  bricks  interspersed. 
It  stands  high,  conuuanding  extensive  views  to  the  southward. 

THURNHAM,   ok   GODDARD'S   CASTLE  (wmor) 

FOUR  milus  to  the  N.E.  of  Maidstone  are  the  remains  of  a  Norman  castle, 
built  on  the  site  of  a  British  camp,  which  occupied  the  highest  point  of  a 
very  steep  spur  of  the  chalk  hills  there  ;  the  central  knoll  was  scarped,  and  a  line 
of  defence  was  raised,  in  advance,  lower  down  the  hill,  commanding  the  road 
which  passed  at  Uiat  point.  The  manor  was  one  of  the  many  belonging  to 
Bishop  Odo,  the  Conqueror's  half  brother,  by  Arlette  de  Croz,  and  after  his  fall  it 
was  granted  to  a  Norman,  Gilbert  Maminot,  whose  descendants  took  their  name 
from  this  place.  Robert  de  Thurnham  held  it  (temp.  Henry  II.)  and  founded 
C(inil>\vell  Priory  ;  it  is  probable  that  he  built  this  castle.  His  two  sons  died  s.p. 
in  the  reign  of  John.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  we  find  the  place  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Sir  Roger  de  Northwood,  who,  dying  13  Edward  I.,  left  a  son,  John, 
married  to  his  neighbour  at  Leeds  Castle,  Joan  de  Badlesmere,  the  sister  of  Bar- 
tholomew, Lord  of  Leeds  (i/.r.).  John  de  Northwood  died  14  Edward  II.,  and 
their  descendants  resided  here  for  many  generations.  The  castle,  however,  seems 
to  have  been  destroyed  at  an  earlv  date.  It  was  entirely  a  ruin  in  Leland's  time 
(Henry  VIIL). 

The  structure  covered  an  area  of  a  quarter  of  an  acre  only,  so  its  ruins  are 
mconsiderable.  The  walls,  built  of  flint,  remain  in  some  places,  and  are  lying 
about  m  large  fragments.  There  is  a  mound  here,  which  denotes  its  pre-Norman 
date,  and  on  it  is  still  "a  trace  of  masonry  which  may  be  the  remains  of  a  shell 
keep."     (Clark.)     There  are  the  ruins  of  two  parallel  walls  of  the  gatehouse,  with 


KENT  47 

those  of  a  low  outer  wall,  t-iulin^  in  the    buttress   of   a   tower,  whicli    has   dis- 
appeared.    The  Xorman  eastle  w.is  hiult  on  the  W.  side  of  the  mound. 

From  the  remains  of  Roman  urns  found  liere,  the  place  may  perliaps  have 
been  a  look-out  station  of  the  Romans  on  the  approacli  road  to  Rociicstcr  from 
the  S.E.  coast. 


TON  BRIDGE  {chief) 

AMONG  the  crowd  that  followed  the  leadinj^  and  fortunes  of  Duke  William 
out  of  Normandy,  were  the  two  sons  of  Gilbert  Crispin,  Count  of  Brionne 
(a  place  Ivin^  between  I>ec  and  Pont  d'Audemer),  whose  fatlier,  Geoffrey,  the 
Count  d'Eu,  was  a  natural  son  of  the  liist  Richard,  Duke  of  X(jrmandy.  The 
eldest  of  the  two  bi-others,  Richard,  obtained  lands  from  the  Conqueror,  who  also 
appointed  him  a  justiciary.  In  Domesday  he  appears  as  Richard  de  Tonbridge, 
from  the  lands  he  acquired  here  in  exchange  for  his  in  Normandy,  those  in 
Ens^land  amountin.i,'  to  216  manors  in  Kent,  Sui  rev,  Wilts,  and  SulTolk,  where  lie 
was  called  Richard  de  Clare,  a  great  name  in  later  days. 

There  was  a  huge  prehistoric  mound  at  Tonbridge,  267  yards  round  at  base, 
and  the  top  65  feet  above  river  level,  and  upon  this  Richard  Fitz  Gilbert  erected  a 
low,  stone,  shell  keep,  with  buttresses,  encircling  it  with  a  moat,  over  which  was 
a  drawbridge,  and  enclosing  other  two  acres  iieside  it  with  a  stockade.  On  tlie 
accession  of  the  Red  King,  Fitz  Gilbert  took  the  side  of  Robert,  tlie  Conqueror's 
eldest  son,  with  Odo,  Hishop  of  Haveux,  and  was  besieged  in  liis  new  fortress  by 
Rufus,  when  he  was  wounded,  and,  after  two  days,  obliged  to  surrender  the 
place  ;  then  lie  fled  to  Normandy,  but  was  taken  there,  and  died  in  captivity  in 
1091.  His  son,  Gilbert,  succeeded  to  most  of  his  lands,  and  took  part  in  two 
conspiracies  against  William.  One  of  his  sons  was  Gilbert  de  Clare,  the 
"  Strongbow  "  of  the  next  generation,  and  his  elder  son,  Richard,  who  seems  to 
have  been  a  man  of  excellent  character,  and  in  advance  of  his  time,  and  who 
succeeded  to  Tonbridge  and  the  lest  of  the  immense  estates,  was  killed  in 
Wales  in  1 136.  He  married  a  sister  of  Ralph,  Earl  of  Chester,  and  had  two  sons, 
Gilbert  and  Roger,  the  latter  succeeding  his  father.  In  his  days  Hecket  de- 
manded and  obtained  homage  for  the  castle  of  Tonbridge,  as  an  ancient  right 
due  to  the  See.  Roger,  Earl  of  Clare,  died  1 173,  and  his  son  Gilbert,  who  had 
married  Isabella,  daiiglitei'  and  co-lieiiess  of  William  .Marshal,  Earl  of  Pembroke, 
joined  the  party  of  the  barons  against  King  John,  who  sent  his  hencinnan,  Falk 
de  Hrent  (svc  Hkdkowu),  to  besiege  Tonbridge  castle,  which  he  succeeded  in 
taking.  Gilbert,  however,  recovered  his  eastle  from  Henrv  111.,  and,  as  Earl  of 
(Gloucester  and  Hereford,  aceompani(.'d  that  king  with  his  armv  info  I'"|-ance  in 
1230,  and  died  there.  His  son  K'ichard,  a  child,  became  a  Royal  ward,  being 
placed  under  the  care  of  Hubert  de  Burgh.  He  c.une  of  age  in  1240,  and  was 
maniecl  to  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  John  de  Lacy,  Earl  of  Lincoln. 


^S  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Tliis  powerful  noble  j^reatly  eiihirged,  :it  this  time,  his  castle  of  Tonhridge, 
Iniilcliiig  :i  giancl  gateliouse  near  the  monnd  and  keep,  whose  moat  was  con- 
tinued in  front  of  this  building.  It  had  two  large,  semicircular,  flanking  towers 
and  a  drawbridge,  with  a  barbican  in  advance.  The  side  wall,  to  the  left  of  the 
entrance,  was  continued  up  the  slope  of  the  mound  to  the  wall  of  the  keep,  and 
on  the  other  side  was  continued  along  a  quadrangular  enclosure,  of  6J  acres 
extent  defended  at  intervals  by  mural  towers,  and  returned  at  last  to  tlie  keep, 
which  thus  occupied  one  corner  of  the  enceinte. 

Hicliard,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who  had  nearly  been  killed  by  poison  in  1258 
(sa-  SCOTNICY,  SrsSEX),  died  in  1262,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Gilbert,  called 
the  Red  Earl,  and  a  grand  inheritance  it  was  :  besides  his  three  earldoms,  he  was 
owner  of  the  castles  of  Tonbridge,  Aberystwith,  Morlais,  Haverford,  Cardigan, 
Pembroke,  Caerphilly,  and  others  ;  he  was  married  to  Alice,  daughter  of  Hugh 
d'Angouleme  (Hlaauw),  whom  he  divorced.  His  father  had  been  the  jealous 
compeer  of  Simon  de  Montfort  in  the  populai"  cause,  and  it  behoved  him,  young 
as  he  was,  to  take  part  with  the  Barons  at  the  opening  of  hostilities  against 
Henrv  HI.  At  the  battle  of  Lewes  he,  a  newly  made  knight,  led  the  centre 
of  the  Barons'  Army,  and  it  was  to  him  that  Henry  yielded  himself  prisoner  at 
the  rout  of  the  Roval  troops.  But  de  Clare  quarrelled  with  de  Montfort  soon 
after,  and,  withdrawing  from  him,  joined  the  Royal  side.  He  it  was  who 
furnished  the  rau'e  horse  on  which  Prince  Edward  escaped  from  his  imprison- 
ment at  Hereford  Castle  ((/.;•.),  and  he  afterwards  took  a  leading  part  in  the  battle 
of  Evesham.  But  he  was  of  a  restless  and  changeable  disposition,  and  was 
mistrusted  on  •  all  sides,  so  men  were  glad  when  he  sailed  with  Prince  Edward 
for  the  Crusade  to  the  Holy  Land.  But  he  came  back,  and  after  Edward's 
accession,  had  the  honour  of  welcoming  him  and  his  queen  at  Dover,  and  bring- 
ing them  to  Tonbridge,  where  he  entertained  them  and  their  retinue  for  seven 
davs.  In  1290  he  married  the  Princess  Joan,  daughter  of  his  friend.  King 
Edward.     He  died  at  his  castle  of  Monmouth  in  1295,  aged  fifty-live. 

Gilbert  Rufus  left  an  infant  son  by  the  Princess  Joan,  another  Gilbert,  and  the 
last  eail  of  his  race.  The  mother  married,  as  lier  second  husband,  Ralph  de 
Montherner,  and  in  their  charge,  at  Tonbridge,  King  Edward  left  his  son  Prince 
Edward,  when  absent  in  Flanders,  so  that  the  Prince  and  young  de  Clare,  being 
full  cousins,  were  partly  brought  up  together,  having  as  a  playfellow  the  handsome 
son  of  a  worthy  Gascon  knight,  afterwards  known  as  Piers  Gaveston.  Yoimg 
Gilbert  became  a  very  popular  earl,  ioto  n\iliio  dllcctiis,  and  yoimg  as  he  was,  acted 
as  uioderator  between  the  young  King,  Edward  11.,  and  his  refractory  nobles  ;  he 
even  concurred  with  Edward  in  giving  his  sister  Margaret,  the  King's  niece,  to  be 
married  to  Piers  Gaveston.  In  1314  the  earl  accompanied  the  King  to  the  Scottish 
war,  and  fell  at  Bannockburn,  "pierced  with  a  score  of  Scots'  lances,"  aged  only 
twenty-three.  Then  his  three  sisters  succeeded  to  the  vast  estates — Margaret,  who 
after  Gaveston's  untimely  end  liad  married  Hugh  de  Audley,  taking  the  manors  in 


KENT 


49 


Kent  ;uul  Tonbiicl^^t-.  In  1321  Audk-y  took  part  with  tin-  MortiiiKTs  aiul  tlio  Earl 
of  Lancaster  against  tlic  King's  favourites,  tlic  Despencers  ;  and  wlicn  in  tliis 
eiuariL-l  Edward  Iiad  possessed  himself  of  Leeds  Castle  ((/.«'.),  and  obtained  the 
cessicjn  of  Chilliani  also,  he  passed  on  to  Tonhridge,  which  seems  to  have 
been  left  undefended,  and  seizing  it,  granted  tiie  fortress  to  Hngh  Uespencer, 
on  wiiose  death  it  leil  again  to  the  Crown. 

In  Dr.  Mcining's  pajiei-  on  Tonhridge  an  interesting  inventory  is  given  of  the 


TONBRIDGE 


effects   existing  at   this   castle   at   the   time   of    its   forfeiture  :    the  armour,  arms, 
furnishings,  farm  stock  and  other  details. 

In  the  ne.xt  reign  Audley  was  restored  to  his  lost  earldom,  which  he  held  /;/rf 
iixoris,  and  received  back  this  castle.  lie  died  1347,  and  his  only  daughter, 
Margaret,  look  Tonhridge  Castle  and  Manor  to  her  husband  i\alph,  Lord  Stafford, 
one  of  Edward  lll.'s  great  leaders,  a  soldier  of  high  administrative  capacity,  and 
a  diplomatist  who  was  much  emploved  by  Edward  abroad.  He  commanded  the 
van  at  Crei;v,  and  to  him,  with  Sir  Reginald  Cobham,  is  due  the  record  of  the  slain 
at  that  great  victory,  as  letunu-cl  h\-  the  luralds  who  searched  the  liekl  :  being 
II  great  princes,  80  baimerets,  1200  knights,  and  over  30,000  men  of  all  arms. 
(Dugdale.)  He  was  created  Earl  of  Stafford  and  Knight  of  the  Garter,  and  died 
at  'I'onbridge  in  1373,  aged  sixty-seven,  leaving  a  son,  Hugh,  who  succeeded  him, 
aged  twenty-eight.  This  Earl  Hugh  joineil  in  ,ui  expedition  to  Xorthumberland, 
VOL.   1.  G 


^o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

his  son  Ralph,  a  paj^c  of  the  Queen,  being  with  iiini.  The  boy  was  barbarously 
murdered  by  John  Holland,  the  King's  half-brother,  whereon  the  earl,  distracted, 
went  to  the  Crusades,  and  died  at  Rhodes  in  1387. 

He  had  married  Philippa,  daughter  of  Thomas  Beaucliamp,  Earl  of  Warwick, 
and  was  succeeded,  lirst  by  his  elder  son  Thomas,  and  at  his  death  s.p.  by  Wilham, 
a  minor  of  fourteen,  who  also  died  s.p.  at  Tonbridge,  and  was  followed  by  the 
next  brother  Edmund,  aged  twenty,  married  to  his  eldest  brother's  widow,  Anne, 
daughter  of  Thomas  of  Woodstock,  sixth  son  of  Edward  III.,  and  co-heiress  of 
Eleanor  de  Bohun,  her  mother.  This  Edmund,  fifth  Earl  of  Stafford  and  Lord 
of  Tonbridge,  received  all  his  father's  lands  and  castles  from  Henry  IV.,  and  was 
killed,  fighting  on  that  king's  side,  at  the  battle  of  Shrewsbury,  where  he  com- 
manded the  van  :  the  first  of  the  five  chief  members  of  this  powerful  family  upon 
whom  fell  so  strange  a  fatality.  He  left  a  son,  Humphrey,  a  child  of  two,  who  when 
nineteen  obtained  all  the  property  of  his  ancestors  from  Henry  \'l.,  and  was  by 
him  created  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  constable  of  Dover  and  Queenborough 
Castles.  He  quarrelled  with  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick  as  to  precedence,  and  an 
Act  was  passed  giving  each  of  these  nobles  a  yearly  precedency.  Humphrey  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Northampton,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson,  Henry, 
whose  father,  Humphrey,  had  been  slain  at  the  battle  of  St.  Albans.  It  was  this 
Henrv,  second  duke,  who,  enticed  by  Richard,  Duke  of  Glo'ster,  sent  to  him  secretly 
to  tell  him  he  would  support  his  usurpation  of  the  Crown  with  1000  soldiers  ;  and 
he  it  was  whom  Richard  sent  to  take  out  of  sanctuary  at  Westminster,  from  their 
mother's  care,  the  two  young  princes  to  their  destruction  (Richard  III.,  Act  iii. 
Scene  i.)  ;  who  helped  the  Duke  of  Glo'ster  in  all  his  plots,  and  then,  either 
disappointed  of  the  Hereford  possessions,  or  feared  and  threatened  by  Richard 
because  he  knew  too  nuich,  quari'elled  with  the  usurper  and  raised  a  force  against 
him  in  self-defence.  Marching  from  Wales  against  the  King  at  Salisbury,  he 
was  stopped  by  the  swollen  waters  of  the  Severn.  His  troops,  disheartened, 
left  him,  and  he  fled  to  the  house  of  one  of  his  own  retainers,  Humphrey  Banister, 
in  Shropshire  for  shelter,  but  the  man  for  the  reward  of  Xiooo  delivered  him  up, 
and  being  brought  to  Salisbury,  the  duke  was  at  once  beheaded  by  I-Jichard  in 
the  market-place  there. 

By  Katherine,  daughter  of  Richard  Woodville,  Earl  Rivers,  he  had  three  sons, 
the  eldest  of  whom,  Edward,  being  restored  by  Henry  VII.  in  i486  to  all  his 
father's  estates  and  titles,  is  mentioned  as  supporting  that  king  in  the  disturbances 
about  Perkin  Warbeck,  and  became  Lord  High  Constable  of  England  in  1509, 
being  the  richest  and  most  powerful  noble  of  the  dav.  He  was  the  constant 
companion  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  while  preparing  to  accompanv  Henrv  and  Wolsey 
to  France  in  1520,  he  visited  his  property  here;  where  finding  a  clamour 
raised  against  his  steward,  one  Knevett,  he  discharged  the  man,  who  revenged 
himself  by  divulging  certain  conversations  he  had  overheard  of  his  master  the 
duke.     This  was  reported  to  Wolsey,  the  duke's  enemy,  who  working  upon  the 


KENT 


51 


Kin^,  caused  Buckingham  to  be  hrouglit  up  from  Tlioinhui y,  arrested,  and  sent 
to  the  Tower  on  an  absurd  charge  of  high  treason.  After  the  depositions  were 
read  over,  the  subservient  peers,  headed  by  the  old  Duke  of  Norfolk,  unanimously 
declared  him  guilty,  and  he  was  beheaded  four  days  later.  It  was  in  regard  to 
him,  and  in  allusion  to  Wolsey's  low  birth,  that  tlie  Emperor  Charles  V. 
remarked:  "A  butcher's  dog  hath  slain  the  finest  buck  in  England."  (King 
Henry  VIII.,  Act  i.  Scene  ii.)  (.S(r  THOKN-nrRY,  GLOrCESTKK.SHlRK.)  The  high 
constableship,  being  then  forfeited  (with  his  other  honours),  became  merged  in 
the  Crown,  and  lias  not  been  regranted  since. 

At  Duke  Edward's  death  his  lands  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Crown,  and  in 
a  Survev  held  at  the  time  the  castle  of  Tonbridge  is  thus  spoken  of  :  "In  the 
Lordship  of  Tonbridge  in  Kent  is  a  castle  which  hath  been  and  yet  is  a  strong 
fortress,  for  the  three  parts  thereof  ;  and  the  fourth  part  on  the  S.  side  being 
fortified  with  a  deep  running  water,  was  intended  to  have  been  made  for  lodgings, 
and  so  resteth  on  26  feet  height,  builded  with  ashlar,  and  no  more  done  thereunto. 
The  other  three  parts  of  the  castle  being  continued  with  a  great  gatehouse,  on  the 
first  entrys,  a  dungeon  and  two  towers  are  substantially  builded,  with  the  walls  and 
embattling  with  good  stone,  having  substantial  roots  of  timber,  and  lately  well 
covered  with  lead.  And  as  imto  the  said  gatehouse,  it  is  as  strong  a  fortress  as 
few  be  in  England,  standing  on  the  X.  side,  and  having  a  conveyance  (passage)  to 
a  fair  square  tower,  called  Stafford  Tower,  and  from  thence  to  another  fine  fair 
tower,  standing  upon  the  water,  nigh  to  the  Town  Bridge,  being  builded  eight 
square,  and  called  the  Water  Tower.  This  castle  was  the  strongest  fortress,  and 
most  like  unto  a  castle  of  any  other  that  the  duke  had  in  England  or  Wales." 

The  place  was  then  granted  to,  and  held  by,  John  Dudley,  Earl  of  Warwick 
and  Duke  ot  Xortlunnbeiland  ;  ami  was  next  given  bv  Queen  Mary  to  Cardinal 
Pole.  Elizaiteth  bestowed  the  lordship,  manor  and  castle  on  her  Bolevn  cousin, 
William  Carey,  creating  him  Baron  Hunsdon  ;  fr<Mn  whose  family  they  descended 
by  an  heiress  to  the  Berkeleys.  They  were  soon  after  alienated,  and  the  estate 
was  broken  up.  During  the  Paiiianientary  Wars,  one  Thomas  Weller,  a  staunch 
Roundhead,  leased  the  castle  and  put  it  into  a  state  of  defence.  In  the  reign  of 
George  1.  the  castle  and  manor  were  purchased  from  a  spendthrift  heir  by  John 
Hooker,  of  Peckham,  whose  son  Thomas  dismantled  the  old  fabric  in  1793,  and 
"  built  theie  the  present  nioek  Ciotliic  residence."  (Murrav.)  Nowadays  there  is  a 
boys'  schot)l  in  it,  and  the  owner  of  the  place  is  Enuna,  Ladv  Stafford. 

The  remains  of  this  great  fortress  are  now  chiefly  confined  to  its  gatehouse, 
standing  near  the  Medway,  of  Early  Decorated  style — 1280  to  1300  ;  the  entrance 
gateway  being  flanked  by  two  huge  semicircular  fronted  towers,  while  two  smaller 
circular  towers  support  the  angles  in  rear.  It  is  tolerably  perfect  :  the  entrance 
vault  is  perforated  in  a  ciuious  way  for  defence.  Below  the  groimd  floor  of  the 
guard-rooms  in  the  front  towers  were  vaults  and  a  dungeon,  entered  only  from  the 
rooms  above  by  traps,  unlighted,  and  ventilated  only  by  sloping  air  flues.     On  the 


52  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

first  floor  arc  two  chambers  and  tlic  portcullis  room,  and  above  these  is  the  liall,  a 
state  apartment,  the  whole  size  of  the  gatehouse.  The  curtain  wall  of  the  N. 
front,  extending  on  the  W.  to  the  kvvp,  had  a  low  Watergate,  by  which  Mipplies 
could  be  brought  in  from  the  river  on  the  S.  The  curtani  wall  enclosing  the 
enceinte  has  already  been  described  ;  it  was  generally  lo  feet  in  thickness.  At  the 
corner  of  the  wall  nearest  to  the  town  bridge  existed  another  tower,  from  which 
led  a  wall,  built  across  the  nioulh  of  the  moat  flowing  to  the  gatehouse,  to  keep  the 
water  at  a  proper  level.  Between  this  and  the  keep  was  another  small  tower, 
containing  two  rooms.  Along  the  waterside  is  seen  a  sallyport,  and  W.  of  this 
are  foundati(Mis  of  buildings  added  after  the  time  of  Edward  I. 

The  old  Norman  shell-keep  was  oval,  measuring  86  feet  and  76  feet  in  its  two 
diameters,  its  thick  walls  being  stayed  with  strong  buttresses  ;  it  stood  100  feet 
above  t!ie  river  and  70  above  the  court,  and  the  great  mound  of  it  covers  an  acre. 
Inside,  beyond  the  modern  house,  are  some  fragments  of  Norman  architecture. 

Along  the  river  front  on  the  S.,  where  the  domestic  buildings  stood,  are  some 
remains  of  a  stone  staircase,  and  culverts  from  the  garderobes,  still  existing  ;  and 
on  the  S.E.  is  the  bastion  tower,  rebuilt  by  the  Staffords,  commanding  the  town 
approaches  and  bridge  ;  half-way  between  this  and  the  port  was  a  chapel,  in 
another  bastion  facing  E.,  but  there  are  no  remains  of  this.  At  the  end  of  the  last 
century  the  piers  of  the  drawbridge  existed,  and  a  water  tower  on  the  S.W.  com- 


manding the  sluices. 


TONG   (Jion-cxislen/) 

TONG  is  near  Teynham,  in  the  marshes,  and  is  the  name  given  to  an 
earthen  fortress,  said  to  have  been  raised  by  Hengist  the  Jute,  in  the  iifth 
century,  when  he  came  to  settle  in  East  Kent.  He  found  here  the  Celtic,  or 
Welsh  king,  Vortigern,  who  offered  him  as  much  land  as  he  could  cover  with  an 
ox  iiide  ;  whereon  Hengist  cut  up  a  hide  into  narrow  thongs  ("tongs"),  and  so 
enclosed  enough  land  (the  original  ///,/c  of  land)  to  build  a  castle.  The  place 
went  with  the  other  gifts  of  territory  from  the  Conqueror  to  his  half-brother  Odo, 
the  Bishop,  as  is  stated  in  the  Domesday  Survey ;  and  after  Odo's  banishment 
Tong  was  held  by  John  de  Fiennes  (who  owned  Basing  and  fifty-f^ve  lordships  in 
Hants)  //;  ,  r;/)//<'  for  his  service  at  Dover  Castle.  From  his  descendant,  John,  who 
took  the  name  of  de  St.  John,  it  was  held  (22  Edward  I.)  by  Ralph  Fitzbernard, 
whose  daughter  conveyed  it  to  her  husband,  Guncelin  de  Badlesmere,  the  father  of 
the  famous  Baron  Bartholomew  de  Badlesmere  of  Leeds  Castle  (q.v.),  who 
succeeded  to  both  manor  and  castle.  After  his  execution,  Tong  was  restored  to 
his  son  Giles,  and  passed  with  this  baron's  third  sister,  Elizabeth,  to  William  de 
Bohun,  Earl  of  Northampton,  after  whom  it  went  to  the  children  of  his  widow  by 
her  lirst  husband,  Edward  Mortimer,  and  so  passed  with  all  the  other  Mortimer 
property  to  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  the  father  of  Edward  IV.    On  his  death  at  the 


KENT  53 

battle  of  Wakclkld,  Ikniy  X'l.^ave  Tonj^  to  one  Thomas  Browne,  whose  son, 
Sir  George  Browne,  surrendered  it  to  Cicely,  Dncliess  of  York,  flie  King's  mother, 
after  wliose  death  it  fell  to  tlie  Crown.  Kdward  V'l.,  in  his  Hrst  year,  granted  it  to 
Sir  Kalpli  Fane,  who  sold  it  to  Sir  I\'owiand  Clerke,  and  he  parted  with  it  again 
(5  Mary),  after  which  time  the  manor  and  castle  passed  through  the  hands  of 
many  possessors,  generally  by  purchase. 

Nothing  remains  at  tiie  present  time  of  the  castle  which  stood  here  for  so 
many  ages  but  a  high  mound,  and  a  deep  broad  moat  surrounding  it.  Long  a 
Royal  demesne,  and  with  a  castle  sought  after  and  held  by  the  best  in  the  land, 
all  has  passed  awav  without  any  recortl  or  history.  The  ancient  stronghold  is 
said  to  have  been  the  scene  of  the  treacherous  murder  by  Mengist  and  his  Jutes  of 
300  British  chiefs. 

UPNOR  (fumor) 

THE  fort  Upnor  stands  on  the  left  or  X.  bank  of  the  Medway,  almost  opposite 
to  the  dockyard  of  Chatham.  It  was  built  by  Queen  Elizabeth  for  the 
defence  of  this  reach  of  the  river,  and  consists  of  a  long  castellated  oblong 
building  in  rear,  three  storeys  in  height,  having  a  high  round  tower  at  each  end, 
and  with  the  addition  now  of  a  casemated  ravelin  in  front,  at  the  river  edge, 
where  was  a  platform  for  guns  defended  by  a  stockade.  It  was  long  used  as  a 
powder  magazine,  with  an  establishment  of  a  governor  and  other  officers,  and  an 
officers'  guard  of  soldiers  in  a  barrack  in  reai-.  The  entrance  was  through  a  stpiare 
tower  in  rear  of  the  W.  side,  the  governor's  quarters  being  in  the  S.  tower. 

The  only  time  in  which  its  services  were  called  on  was  in  1667,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  Dutch  invasion  hv  l)e  Ru\1er,  so  dishonourable  to  England,  the  eiieum- 
stances  of  which  in  connection  with  Upnor  Castle  it  may  be  worth  while  to  recall. 

After  the  Restoration,  the  glories  of  the  British  Navy  under  Blake  appear  to 
have  been  forgotten  ;  the  moneys  intended  for  the  fleet  and  naval  stores  were 
otherwise  appropriated,  and  when,  in  1OO7,  the  States  General  determined  to  strike 
a  vigorous  blow  on  this  country,  the  English  fleet  was  laid  up  in  ordinary,  the 
dockyards  were  depleted,  and  the  sailors  mutinous  from  long  overdue  wages.  De 
Rnyter,  with  \'an  (ient  and  the  best  fleet  officers,  sailed  in  the  spring  with  a 
powerful  stiuadron  lo  make  a  descent  on  the  Thames  and  destrov  all  the  ships  ot 
war  he  could  find,  and  to  burn  the  magazines  and  stores.  Intimation  of  this 
being  received,  the  Duke  of  York  took  measures  for  protecting  the  ships  lying  in 
the  Medway,  a  fleet  of  sixteen  line-of-battle  shijis,  the  finest  in  the  navy,  but  only 
paitially  armed  .uul  rigged,  and  without  ciews.  He  caused  an  iron  chain  cable 
to  be  stretched  across  the  Medway  at  Gillingham,  which  weighed  14  tons  6  cwt.. 
and  was  supported  with  floats  and  strained  taut  by  windlasses  at  either  end, 
Two  flank  batteries  were  formed  also  to  protect  the  chain,  but  were  not  armed 
in  time. 


^^  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Bfliiiul  the  clKiin  were  moored  two  large  sliips,  which  had  been  taken  from 
the  Dutch  during  the  Commonwealth,  the  Cluirlcs  1'.,  and  the  M tilth ias,  to 
protect  tile  barrier  with  theii'  broadsides,  while  a  number  of  ships  were  sunk  in 
tlie  cliannels  to  render  these  impassable.  Rear-Adminil  Sir  Edward  Spragge  lay 
at  Sheerness,  at  tiie  mouth  of  the  Medway,  with  a  small  squadron,  but  the 
fortifications  here  were  neglected. 

On  June  lo,  the  Dutch  came  before  Sheerness,  and,  after  cannonading  the  fort 
there,  landed  and  took  the  place  at  once— the  garrison  running  away,  and  the 
UiiHv  frigate  making  off  towards  Chatham.  Munitions  of  war  were  taken  to 
the  value  of  ;^8ooo,  and  tire  was  set  to  the  place.  The  Duke  of  Albemarle 
(General  Monk)  was  then  sent  to  see  to  the  defences  of  Chatham,  but  he  found 
all  in  panic  there,  and  could  effect  little  beyond  reinforcing  Upnor  Castle,  and 
arming  some  batteries,  besides  sinking  more  ships  to  block  the  river,  the  principal 
one,  the  Saiicia  Marin,  being,  however,  carelessly  run  ashore  and  so  leaving  the 
main  channel  open. 

On  the  1 2th  the  enemy  came  on  with  a  fair  wind  and  tide,  two  men-of-war 
leading,  and  successfuUv  passed  all  the  intricacies  of  the  channel,  with  a  number 
of  fire-ships  in  company.  One  of  the  Dutch  captains.  Van  Braakel,  reaching  the 
I'nitx,  near  the  chain,  at  once  boarded  and  carried  her  ;  then  two  of  the  fire- 
ships  charged  the  chain,  which  gave  way,  and  so  allowed  the  whole  fleet  of  some 
twenty-five  ships  to  pass  up.  How  this  obstacle  was  passed  was  never  quite 
ascertained  :  Pepvs,  who  visited  the  place,  says  he  found  both  ends  fast  ;  but  it 
seems  possible  that  the  chain,  being  borne  down  by  the  weight  of  the  first  ship, 
some  of  the  floats  became  detached,  allowing  it  to  sag,  and  the  other  vessels  to 
pass  over.  Then  one  of  the  fire-ships  grappled  and  set  fire  to  the  guardship 
Maltliiiis,  while  two  others  did  the  same  to  the  Clinrlcs  I'.,  which  burned  all 
day  and  blew  up  at  night.  Meantime  the  fort  at  Gillingham  and  the  battery  at 
the  N.  end  of  the  chain  mav  be  assumed  to  have  done  what  they  could  with  their 
incomplete  armament,  but  the  Dutch  account  says  they  were  abandoned  at  once. 

Worse  followed.  Moored  a  little  above  the  chain,  with  only  her  lower  masts  in, 
and  no  more  than  thirty-two  out  of  her  loo  guns  on  board,  lay  the  Royal 
Charles,  the  finest  ship  in  the  navy.  She  had  originally  been  named  the 
Nascby,  but  having  brought  the  King  home  at  the  Restoration  had  been 
re-christened.  Orders  had  been  given  repeatedly  that  this  magnificent  ship 
should  be  taken  to  a  safer  berth,  but  the  officials  had  neglected  to  do  so,  and  now, 
with  a  couple  of  small  boats,  the  Dutch  captured  her  and  carried  her  away,  with 
the  Ciiily,  to  Holland.  Then,  after  they  had  set  fire  to  the  Saiicta  Maria,  the 
state  of  the  tide  obliged  the  enemy  to  defer  other  proceedings  till  the  next  day. 
On  our  side  the  Duke  of  Albemarle  did  what  he  could  during  the  night  to  raise 
new  batteries,  with  the  aid  of  volunteers,  most  of  his  men  having  deserted,  as  they 
could  not  get  their  wages. 

On   the  following  morning  (13th)  the  Dutch,  sending  on  a  squadron  of  six 


KENT  55 

incii-of-\v;ir  to  ciigagi.-  Upiior  ;iik1  the  batteries,  proceeded  with  tive  fire-ships 
to  compass  the  destruction  of  the  larj^e  ships  they  saw  lying  above  Upnor,  and  at 
2  P.M.  their  fleet  engaged  the  batteries.  The  guns  of  these  and  of  Upnor 
Castle  on  the  other  side  returned  a  heavy  lire  of  cannon  and  musketry,  but  the 
English  record  says  that  the  enemy  "made  no  more  account  of  Upnor's 
slicxiting  tiian  >>\  a  fly."  So  passing  through  the  smoke  the  lire-ships  attacked  the 
three  ships  lying  close  above  the  castle,  namely  the  Rovnl  Junics,  Loyal  London,  and 
Royal  Oak,  all  line  8o-gun  ships,  and  set  them  on  lire.  Thus  it  happened  that  on 
this  afternoon  there  were  si.K  British  ships  of  war  blazing  fiercely  in  our  own 
waters  ;  in  tJR-  words  of  Evelyn,  "as  dreadful  a  spectacle  as  Englishmen  ever  saw, 
and  a  dishonour  never  to  be  wiped  off."  Then  having  successfully  achieved  their 
well  planned  invasion,  and  inflicted  a  fearful  indignity  upon  the  Power  so  long  in 
command  of  the  sea,  the  Dutch  at  once  retired  from  the  scene  of  their  triimiph. 
Tliev  had  hunil  nix  of  the  best  of  our  ships,  and  carried  off  two  others  and  many 
prisoners,  with  the  loss  only  of  the  lire-ships,  and  of  some  thirty  men  killed  and 
wounded. 

In  excavating  for  new  clock  basins  at  Chatham  in  the  vear  i<Sy6,  there  were 
discovered,  below  a  deposit  of  fifteen  feet  of  niiul,  llie  tinibeis  of  an  old  ship,  in 
the  bend  of  the  river  near  the  E.  entrance  to  St.  Mary's  Creek.  She  was  of  foreign 
build  ;  and  twenty-one  guns,  some  of  Dutch  make,  were  dug  up  around  her.  She 
had  evidently  been  blown  up,  her  after-part  being  missing,  and  all  points  to  the 
fact  tliat  these  were  the  remains  of  the  Cliiiiirs  ]'.,  which  had  been  captured 
from  the  Dutch  in  1665,  and  which  formed,  as  has  been  told,  one  of  the  guards  of 
the  chain.  Set  on  lire  she  probably  drifted  on  the  tide  to  this  spot,  where  she 
grounded  and  blew  up  during  the  night,  settling  down  then  on  the  spot  where 
her  timbers  were  thus  discovered  209  years  afterwards.  (From  Commander 
Crofton's  Paper  in  the  yoiinuil  of  the  Royal  Tiiited  Service  Institution,  1885.) 

WALMER  (minor) 

WALMER  was  not  one  of  the  original  Cinque  Ports,  but  in  the  later  Middle 
Ages  seems  to  have  been  an  appendage  to  Deal,  which  is  close  b\-. 
It  grew  into  importance  under  the  shadow  of  Henry  Vlll.'s  castle,  particularly 
after  this  became  the  ollicial  residence  of  the  Lord  Warden.  Heie  Henry  caused 
to  be  built  one  of  the  costly  blockhouses  which  hold  an  intermediate  place 
between  ancient  and  modern  foitilications,  in  order,  with  those  of  Deal  and 
Sandown,  to  form  a  hue  of  defence  upon  that  depressed  part  of  the  coast  lying 
between  the  estuarv  at  Sandwich  and  the  cliffs  of  Dovei'.  In  plan  the  fort  is  like 
its  neighbours  in  great  measure  :  four  semi-circular  casemated  bastions  being 
disposed  round  a  large  circulai"  central  drum  tower  of  low  elevation,  the  whole 
being  suirounded  by  a  broad  ditch  with  m.isoniy  esc.up.  The  original  design  lias 
been  nuicli  alleied  in  adapting  the  place  for  a  modern  residence. 


j6  CyVSTLES   of   ENGLAND 

It  played  a  distinct  part  in  the  history  of  the  country  when  Mr.  Pitt,  as  Lord 
Warden,  resided  here,  and  in  a  tiny  room,  which  is  shown,  took  counsel  frequently 
witli  Lord  Nelson,  when  he  came  ashore  from  his  flagship,  while  on  board  the 
lleet  in  the  Downs  he  watelied  tiie  Boulogne  flotilla ;  and  it  was  here  that  Pitt  set 
to  work  to  organise  and  drill  his  Cinque  Port  Volunteers.  He  planted  the  trees  we 
see  there,  in  order  to  shelter  the  fort  somewhat. 

Some  authorities  are  of  opinion  tliat  it  was  at  this  spot  that  C?esar  landed,  and 
indeed  there  are  traces  of  a  Roman  camp  close  to  the  castle.  Saxon  times  are 
blank  regarding  it,  but  after  the  Conquest  the  d'Aubervilles  held  the  manor  from 
Hamo  de  Crevecoeur,  and  from  them  it  went,  as  did  Westenhanger  {q.v.),  to  the 
Criols,  oi'  Keriells. 

The  castle  was  the  official  residence  of  Arthur,  the  great  Duke  of  Wellington, 
as  Lord  Warden,  but  Walmei-  was  a  favourite  place  of  retirement  for  him  many 
years  previously,  and  in  Castle  Stieet  is  a  house  of  the  better  sort,  known  as  "the 
Duke's  house,"  wlncli  was  tenanted  by  him  in  former  years.  In  1842  Queen 
Victoria  and  the  l^rince  Consort  visited  the  castle,  and  were  so  pleased  with  the 
simplicity  of  the  place  that  her  Majesty  greatly  prolonged  her  stay  there.  To  fit 
the  house  for  the  reception  of  his  Royal  guests  the  duke  made  no  alterations, 
except  by  putting  plate  glass  into  a  window  to  give  Her  Majesty  a  better  sea  view, 
and  adding  a  deal  bracket  on  the  wall,  made  by  a  village  carpenter,  for  holding  the 
Prince's  clock. 

A  melancholy  interest  lias  been  acquired  by  the  old  fortress  as  being  the  place 
where  that  illustrious  soldier  breathed  his  last  on  September  14,  1852.  He  was  in 
the  habit  of  coming  there  annually  in  September,  and  residing  two  months  in 
every  year,  during  which  he  endeared  himself  to  the  people  of  the  district  by  his 
invariable  kindness  and  condescension.  The  duke  was  most  regular  and  simple 
in  his  habits  :  he  rose  at  six  every  morning,  and  almost  to  the  last  would  indite 
three  or  foui-  letters  before  breakfast ;  though  eighty-three  years  of  age,  he  could 
raise  a  brimming  glass  of  water  to  his  lips  without  spilling  a  drop.  His  room, 
which  was  a  small  one,  to  the  left  of  the  flagstaff  and  furthest  from  Deal,  had  in  it 
a  range  of  bookcase  on  one  side,  a  painted  washstancl,  a  table  and  easy  chair,  a 
chest  of  drawers  and  small  table  ;  his  bed  was  an  ordinary  3  feet  iron  tressle 
one,  htted  with  a  horsehair  mattress,  3  inches  thick,  covered,  like  the  pillow, 
with  wash-leather — the  pillow  always  migrating  with  him  ;  there  were  no  blankets. 
He  had  this  favourite  motto  :  "  He  who  wishes  to  have  anything  done  well,  must 
do  it  himself."  The  Duke  of  Wellington  died  after  a  succession  of  epileptic  fits, 
which  seized  him  without  any  warning,  after  the  lapse  of  about  five  hours.  In 
the  number  of  the  lllii^tnilcd  London  Xetcs,  of  September  25,  1852,  is  given  a  letter 
from  the  apotiiecary  of  Wulmer  who  attended  him,  which  says  he  received  a  call 
from  the  duke  at  9  a.m.,  xJkmi  he  found  his  grace  restless,  as  if  from  indigestion, 
but  with  no  dangerous  symptoms  ;  but  soon  after  "  he  had  fits  similar  to  those  he 
was  subject  to,"  and  further  advice  was  had.     "  Soon  after  i  his  grace  became 


KENT 


57 


very  restless,  the  eye  glassy.  He  tried  to  turn  on  the  left  side ;  there  was 
occasionally  twitching  of  the  left  arm.  Respiration  was  extremely  difficult,  hut 
easier  when  his  grace  was  raised.  This  induced  us  to  place  his  grace  in  an  easy 
chair,  and  his  breathing  became  immediately  more  free,  hut  the  pulse  sank.  He 
was  now  brought  into  a  more  horizontal  position,  the  pulse  rallied  for  a  short 
time,  and  then  gradually  declined.  Respiration  became  very  feeble,  and  at 
twenty-five  minutes  past  3  o'clock,  P.M.,  his  grace  expired.  I  held  a  mirror  before 
his  grace's  mouth,  it  remained  bright,  and  he  was,  indeed,  no  more." 

Only  three  days  previously  he  had  liddcn  ovei"  to  inspect  the  new  harbour 
works  at  Dover.  The  Times  of  September  15  contains  twenty-one  columns, 
and  that  of  the  i6th,  twelve  columns  about  his  life.  He  was  born  in  Dublin  on 
May  I,  1769. 

The  Tillies  ends  its  article  thus  :  "  l-'ull  nl  years  lu-ynnd  the  term  of  mortality, 
and  of  honours  almost  beyond  human  parallel,  he  has  descended  into  the  grave 
amiK:!  the  regrets  of  a  generation  who  could  only  learn  his  deeds  from  their  fore- 
fathers, but  who  knew  that  the  national  glory  which  they  witness,  and  the  national 
security  which  they  enjoy,  were  due,  under  God's  providence,  to  the  hero  whom 
they  have  just  now  lost." 

WEST  EN  HANGER,  also  cvlled  OSTEN  HANGER  (nmior) 

THE  ruin  of  Westenhanger  is  close  to  the  station,  surrounded  with  old  trees,  in 
the  parish  of  Stanford,  and  two  and  a  half  miles  from  Hythe.  It  has  been 
a  fine  specimen  of  a  fortified  manor-house  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  consisted 
of  a  quadrangle  of  curtain  wails  defended  bv  nine  towers,  which  were  roimd  at 
the  four  corners  of  the  enceinte,  and  square  in  the  centre  of  each  face.  Three  of 
these  towers  only  remain,  though  the  others  can  be  traced.  The  round  one  at  the 
N.E.  corner  and  the  square  one  in  the  centre  of  the  N.  front  are  connected  by  a 
wall  still  peitect,  the  centre  towei' nl  the  three  now  remaining  being  called  "  Fair 
Rosamond's,"  from  a  poorly  founded  tradition  that  this  fair  and  frail  daughter  of 
the  Clitfords  lived  here  before  her  removal  to  Woodstock.  A  long  gallery,  which 
was  standing  in  the  time  of  Grose,  160  feet  in  length,  adjoined  this  tower,  and  was 
called  her  prison.  The  buildings  in  the  inteiioi'  have  disappeared,  and  a  farm- 
house occupies  their  site,  though  some  of  these  farm  buildings  Parker  thinks  may 
have  belonged  tcj  the  old  castle.  There  is  a  curious  dovecot  here.  Grose  gives 
two  views  of  the  ruins  as  they  appeared  in  1773. 

Sir  William  crAuher\ille  had  tiiis  niaiioi-  and  resided  here  in  the  reign  of 
Richard  !.,  and  founded  the  abbey  of  West  Langton.  His  grandson,  also  Sir 
William,  had  a  daughter  who  carried  the  manor  in  marriage  to  Nicholas  de  Criol, 
whose  descendant,  Bertram  ile  Criol,  dying  (23  Edward  I.),  left  it  to  his  daughter 
jiian,  the  wife  of  Sii-  Richard  de  Rokesley,  an  eminent  Kentish  gentleman,  who 
accompanied  the  King  to  Scotl.uul,  and  peiformed  >ucli  good  service  at  the  siege 
VOL.  L  n 


^8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

of  Cjcrlaverock  that  lie  was  made  a  hannaret.  They  left  two  daughters,  one  of 
whom  brought  part  of  the  property,  then  divided,  to  lier  husband,  Thomas  de 
Poynings,  whose  son,  Nicholas  de  Poynings,  was  summoned  to  Parliament  as 
baron  (33  Edward  III.)-  This  division  may  have  separated  Osten-  (or  East)  hanger 
from  W'esten-hanger,  which  seems  still  to  have  been  kept  by  the  Criol  family,  for 
we  find  that  in  17  Edward  111.,  John  de  Kiriel,  or  Criol,  had  a  licence  to  crenelhite 
his  manor-house  of  Westyngehangre,  Kent,  and  his  son.  Sir  Nicholas,  died  seised 
of  it  (3  Richard  11.).  His  son,  Sir  Thomas,  fought  on  the  Yorkist  side  during  the 
Wars  of  the  Roses,  and  being  taken  prisoner  at  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans,  in 
1461,  was  executed  at  once  by  the  Lancastrians  ;  his  name  is  spelt  "  Kyrielle  "  by 
the  chroniclers.  He  left  no  heirs  male,  so  the  castle  and  lands  went  to  Thomas 
Fogge,  the  iiusband  of  his  daughter,  whose  brother,  Sir  John  Fogge  of  Repton, 
succeeded  him,  dying  possessed  of  them  (17  Henry  VII.),  and  being  followed  by  a 
son.  Sir  [ohn  Fogge,  who  bequeathed  the  property  to  the  Poyning  family,  winch 
then  acquired  the  whole  original  estate,  once  more  reunited.  Sir  Edward 
Poynings,  a  Privy  Councillor  of  Henry  VII.,  then  enjoyed  the  castle  and  manor 
and  resided  here ;  he  was  deputy  of  Ireland,  and  was  the  author  of  the  statute 
there  called  Poynings'  Law ;  Henry  made  him  a  Knight  of  the  Garter  and 
Comptroller  of  his  Household,  and  on  his  death  in  12  Henry  VIII.,  without  any 
lawful  issue,  his  estates  were  escheated  to  the  Crown,  when  the  King  gave  them  to 
Sir  Edward's  natural  son,  Thomas  Poynings,  whom  he  made  a  Knight  of  the 
Bath  at  the  coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn.  He  was  called  to  the  Parliament  of 
36  Henry  VIII.,  as  Baron  Poynings  of  Ostenhanger,  and  died  the  year  after  s.f>., 
whereon  the  estates  again  lapsed  to  the  Crown,  and  were  presented  to  John 
Dudley,  Earl  of  Warwick,  afterwards  Duke  of  Northumberland  ;  at  whose  attainder 
in  the  first  year  of  Mary,  they  again  became  Royal  property. 

Strvpe  says  that  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  one  of  her  progresses,  came  here  and 
lodged  "  in  her  own  house  of  Westenhanger,"  after  which  she  gave  the  place  to 
her  kinsman.  Sir  Thomas  Sackville,  who  sold  it  to  one  Thomas,  or  "  Customer," 
Smith,  who  added  to  and  beautified  the  house.  Then  it  passed  by  Philip  Smith 
to  Viscount  Strangford,  who  resided  here  when  Philipott  wrote  his  "Villare 
Cantianum."  After  him  it  passed  to  the  Flinches  and  the  Champnevs,  who 
possessed  the  then  ruined  castle  in  Grose's  time,  and  built  a  small  house  out  of  the 
wreck. 

The  castle  was  moated  all  round,  and  had  a  drawbridge  and  a  fine  fifteenth 
century  gatehouse.  The  place  was  sold  for  ^1000  in  1701,  when  three-quarters 
of  the  buildings  were  pulled  down,  and  the  chief  remains  now  are  the  embattled 
walls,  which  were  very  lofty  and  of  great  thickness,  and  the  before-mentioned 
towers  on  the  E.  and  N.  The  principal  entrance  must  have  been  extremely  fine, 
being  vaulted  with  arches  springing  from  six  polygonal  shafts  with  carved  capitals, 
and  there  is  a  portcullis  groove.  Within  the  great  gate  was  a  court,  130  feet  square, 
with  a  fountain  in  the  centre.     Here  Sir  Edward  Poynings  erected  a  chapel,  the 


KENT  59 

stone  carvings  of  which  are  described  by  Grose,  and  a  hall,  50  feet  long  and  32 
wide,  having  a  musician's  gallery  at  one  end  and  cloisters  at  the  other,  leading  to 
the  chapel  and  otlur  buildings.  It  is  said  that  the  original  house  contained  126 
rooms.  The  ancient  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  John,  has  been  destroyed,  and  its 
materials  were  used  to  build  the  great  barn  which  stands  N.X.W.  of  the  entrance. 
The  small  chapel  within  the  court  is  now  used  as  a  stable,  and  has  a  vaulted  roof ; 
near  it  on  the  S.  are  the  remains  of  other  buildings. 

Its  ancient  grandeur  is  still  traceable  in  its  ruins  ;  the  site  it  occupied  is  low, 
on  the  banks  of  a  small  rivulet  which  supplied  the  moat ;  this  moat,  once  broad 
and  deep,  is  now  partly  filled  up.  The  parks  which  belonged  to  the  castle  were 
well  stocked  with  timber,  and  tliiie  are  still  traces  of  a  line  avenue  which  led 
from  the  S.  to  the  principal  entrance. 

Stanford,  the  name  of  the  parish,  is  derived  from  the  Stone,  or  Stane,  Street, 
the  old  Roman  road  leading  from  Durovernum  (Canterbury)  to  Limne,  at  Hythe, 
where  was  the  Portus  Lemanis  and  harbour  of  the  Romans.  During  the  Civil 
VVar,  after  the  defeat  of  the  King's  troops  at  Maidstone  in  164S,  many  prisoners 
were  confined  at  Westenhanger. 


CAMBER 


Sussef 


AMBER  LEY   (mnior) 

AMBERLEY  is  a  castellated  and  defensible  bishop's  palace  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  It  was  necessary  for  bishops  and  abbots  and  priors  to 
protect  their  wealth  and  their  dwellings,  and  consequently  frequent 
licences  "to  crenellate,"  that  is  to  fortify  with  battlements  (crenelles), 
appear  in  the  Rolls  as  granted  to  Churchmen  during  the  reigns  from  Henry  III. 
to  Edward  1\'.  The  abbot  in  his  dwelling  at  the  head  of  his  retainers 
was  in  the  same  position  as  a  baron,  and  required  equally  to  safeguard  his 
property  in  hazardous  times  and  situations.  Amberley,  which  lies  five  miles  north 
from  Arundel,  was  built  by  William  Rede,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  the  first  mathema- 
tician of  his  age  ;  the  licence  is  dated  i  Richard  II.,  and  the  palace  was  begun  in 
1379  and  finished  ten  years  later.  A  building  seems  to  have  existed  there  in  Saxon 
times,  and  to  have  then  been  the  property  of  the  Church,  and  an  episcopal 
residence.  In  1447  additional  defences  were  added,  and  a  forest  or  park  of  2000 
acres  was  enclosed. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  old  structure  and  of  its  defences  still  exists, 
situated  on  a  piece  of  low-lying  rock  overlooking  the  marshy  lands  flooded  at 
times  by  the  river  Arun.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram  ;  the  N.  E.  and 
W.  walls  being  nearly  entire,  but  that  on  the  S.  has  been  destroyed.  It  was 
surrounded  by  a  moat,  and  the  bridge  across  this  and  the  gatehouse  are  standing. 
The  latter  contains  the  main  entrance  between  two  segmental  towers— similar  to 


SUSSEX 


6i 


the  gate  at  Carishrook  Castle  and  at  Lewes — admitting  into  a  large  court  or  ballium 
surrounded  by  the  outer  walls,  with  square  towers  at  the  angles.  In  this  enclosure 
stand  the  remains  of  the  various  buildings  and  lodgings,  one  of  the  chambers 
being  called  the  Queen's 
Kofjm  —  a  very  fine 
apartment,  on  the  walls 
of  which  are  some  pain- 
tings executed  by  an 
Italian  artist  in  Bishop 
Sherburne's  time  (i50<S- 
36).  After  that  bishop's 
death  the  place  appears 
to  have  been  leased  to 
various  landowners  and 
others,  until  in  1687  a 
lease  was  purchased  bv 
Sir  John  Briscoe,  after 
whom  it  passed  in  ica>c 
to  other  families.  In 
1872  the  property  wa^ 
bought  by  Lord  Zouche, 
the  present  owner. 

Charles  1 1,  in  his  wan- 
derings among  the  Sus- 
sex hills  when  escaping  to 
the  coast  after  the  battle 

of  Worcester,  was  lodged  for  a  night  in  this  palatial  ftjrtress,  and  lus  room  still 
bears  his  name.  It  is  said  that  Amberley  was  plundered  and  dismantled  by  Waller's 
troops  during  the  Civil  War  after  the  taking  of  Arundel,  but  the  story  is  doubted. 


AMBERLEY 


ARUNDEL  {chief) 

THE  manor,  called  Aniiulcl,  is  mentioned  in  the  will  of  our  great  Alfred,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  Saxon  times  a  fortress  of  some  sort  existed 
here,  since  in  the  Survey  of  Domesday  a  castellum  is  returned  at  Arundel.  At  the 
battle  of  Senlac,  or  Hastings,  a  Norman  knight  of  repute,  being  a  kinsman  of  Duke 
William,  called  Roger  de  Montgomeri,  led  the  centre  of  the  invading  army,  and 
on  him,  in  return  for  his  impoitant  services,  the  Conqueror  conferred  the  two 
earldoms  of  Arundel  and  Shrewsburv,  with  two  of  the  six  rapes  into  which  the 
county  of  Sussex  is  divided  to  the  support  of  the  former  dignity,  making  what 
was  called  the  Honour  or  Seignory  of  Arundel. 

Earl  Roger  enjoyed  his  earldoms  for  twenty  years  and  built  the  N'orman  castle 


62  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

probably  adclinii  to  and  strengthening  tlie  old  structure  which   he  found.     He 
resided  here  chiefly,  but  latterly  had  to  defend  his  Shropshire  lands  against  the 
Welsli,  wiien  he  won  for  himself  the  territory  still  called  Montgomeryshire.     In 
I0Q4  lie  died  an  inmate  of  his  abbey  at  Shrewsbury,  being  succeeded  by  his 
second  son,  Hugh,  who  four  years  later  was  slain  by  an  arrow  while  repelling 
the  invasion  of  Anglesea  by  the  sea  king  Magnus  of  Norway.     Then  his  elder 
brother,  Robert,  who  was  possessed  of  the  family  property  in   Normandy  at  and 
about  Beleme  (from  whence  he  derived  his  name),  assumed  the  titles  and  lands  in 
England,  on  pavment  of  X3000  to  the  Crown.     This  Robert  de  Beleme,  who  won 
for  himself  by  his  cruelty  and  tyranny  an  odious  name  in   England,  sided  with 
Robert  Curthose,  Duke  of  Normandy,  against  Henry  I.  who  at  once  went  against 
the  earl,  leading  a  strong  force  against  his  castle  of  Arundel,  in  the  absence  of 
Beleme  who  had  gone  to  build  a  stronghold  against  the  King  at  Bridgnorth  (q.v.). 
According  to   Roger  Wendover,  Henry  sat  down   before  Arundel  to   besiege  it 
regularlv,  and  constructed  against  it  one  of  the  usual   lofty  wooden  towers  for 
annoying  the  garrison.     The  besieged  sent  to  their  earl  to  know  what  they  were 
to  do,  and  he  returned  word  back  that  they  might  make  the  best  terms  they  could 
with  the  King  ;  whereon  the  castle  was  promptly  surrendered,  and  thus  passed  to 
the  Crown.     Then  Henry  pursued  Earl  Robert  into  Shropshire,  and  besieged  and 
captured  his  new  castle  of  Bridgnorth,  and  following  him  on  to  Shrewsbury  was 
met  by  the  earl  on  the  way,  and  received  his  abject  submission.     But  though  his 
life  was  spared  Beleme  was  banished  and  his  lands  were  forfeited,  and  he  died  in 
1 1 18    a    prisoner    at    Warcham    {sec    BRIDGNORTH    and    SHREWSBURY).     Henry 
settled   the   lands  and  dignities   on  his   second   queen,  Adeliza,  who  afterwards 
became  the  wife  of  William  de  Albini,  a  baron  of  Norfolk,  the  elder  son  of  a 
Norman  companion  of  the  Conqueror  of  similar  name,  by  Maud,  the  daughter  of 
Roger  Bigod.     Alhini  then,  Jiiiv  ii.vorif,  became  Earl  of   Arundel,  and  as  such 
naturally  gave  shelter  at  this  castle  to  the  King's  daughter,  the  Empress  Maud, 
defending  her  against  the  usurper  Stephen. 

The  Albinis  held  Arundel  till  the  death  of  Hugh,  iifth  earl,  in  1243,  s./>.  male, 
when  the  earldom  and  property  went  with  his  daughter,  Isabel,  the  wife  of  John 
FitzAlan,  son  of  the  Norman  baron  of  the  same  name,  lord  of  Clun  and 
Oswestre ;  and  the  family  of  FitzAlan  enjoyed  possession  for  above  three 
centuries,  till  1580,  when  Henry,  the  fourteenth  and  last  Earl  of  Arundel  (who  was 
Dudley's  rival  in  the  affections  of  Queen  Elizabeth),  died  ;  and  after  him  his  son 
died  .s-./>.  Arundel  was  then  inherited  by  Mary,  a  daughter  of  the  eleventh  earl, 
who  was  married  to  Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk ;  in  that  noble  family 
it  has  continued  to  the  present  time,  the  title  of  Earl  of  Arundel  being  held  as  the 
dignity  of  the  eldest  son. 

The  castle  has  sustained  three  sieges  :  the  first,  when  it  was  taken  by  Henry  I. ; 
the  second  by  Stephen  ;  and  the  third  by  the  Parliamentary  forces  under  Sir  Wm. 
Waller,  in   December  1642,  when   it  was  reduced  after  a  spirited  resistance  of 


SUSSEX 


63 


seventeen  chiys  under  the  command  of  Sir  Edward  Ford,  and  was  then  occupied  by 
troops  sent  from  London.  This  siej^e  was  most  disastrous  to  tlie  structure,  wliich 
was  reduced  in  many  places  to  a  iieap  of  ruins  by  tlie  artillery  lire  brought  to  bear 
upon  it  by  guns  placed  on  the  church  tcnver.  Dismantled  and  roofless,  it  remained 
in  ruins  for  over  seventy  years,  when  the  eighth  duke  partially  repaired  the  fabric, 
making  some  part  of  it  habitable.  In  this  state  it  was  visited  in  1749  by  Horace 
W'.ilpok',  who  dcscrilied  it  as  "now  only  a  heap  of  ruins,  with  a  new,  indifferent 
apartment  clapt  up  for  the  Xorlolks  when  they  reside  there  for  a  week  or  a 
fortnight."  Hul  in  17.S6  the 
tenth  duke  began  the  "restora- 
tion" and  rebuilding,  which 
went  on  until  his  death  in  iiSi^, 
during  which  time  a  sum  of 
about  ;^"6oo,ooo  was  expended, 
the  result  being  the  pnjduction 
of  a  magnificent  modern  castle 
of  highly  elaborate  design  antl 
execution,  but  of  no  historic 
interest  except  in  the  few  spots 
where  the  ancient  work  re- 
mains, and  with  which  alone  we 
are  concerned. 

Arundel  Castle  stands  at  the- 
lofty  edge  of  a  spur  of  the 
downs  that,  running  southward, 
overhangs  the  river  Aruii.  lii 
early  ages  the  tide  llowed  up  to 
this  cliff,    which  forms   a   sufii- 

cient  protection  to  the  fortress  from  X.E.  to  S.E.,  the  range  of  walls  and 
towers,  with  a  deep  ditch  on  the  S.,  guarding  the  remaining  fronts  :  the  area 
enclosed  is  about  5^  acres.  The  modern  castle  forms  three  sides  of  a  large 
quadrangle,  the  fourth  being  occupied  by  the  great  circular  keep,  whose 
origin  may  date  from  a  pre-Roman  period,  standing  as  it  does  upon  an  artificial 
mound  nearly  100  feet  above  the  ditch.  It  is  65  feet  in  diameter,  with  walls  8  to 
ID  feet  thick,  having  a  Xorman  casing  of  Caen  stone.  .A  line  circular-headed 
doorway  was  inserted  in  it  by  Earl  Roger,  who  built  also  the  smaller  arch  on  the 
S.,  giving  access  to  the  well,  and  the  barbican,  or  Bevis  Tower,  together  with  the 
lower  portion  of  the  great  gatehouse,  sometimes  called  the  Clock  Tower,  the 
upper  part  of  which  is  Early  English  of  the  date  of  U'ich.iid  l'"itz.-\lan  in  1205, 
when  the  outer  gateway  was  added  with  its  two  flanking  towers  ;  he  also  built 
four  towers  at  ecpial  distances  round  the  enceinte  beyond  the  keep.  The  ancient 
chapel  or  oratory  was  likewise  his  work. 


ARUNDEL 


64  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

The  great  liall,  built  bv  Earl  Richard,  iiis  grandson,  on  the  S.W.  was  wholly 
destroyed  in  1643;  but  a  sketch  of  Hollar's  preserves  the  features  of  it.  Under 
tlie  E.  end  of  the  fabric  is  a  vast  dungeon,  the  vaulted  roof  of  which  has,  for  the 
sake  of  lightness,  been  built  of  chalkstone  blocks  with  a  circular  groining.  In  the 
sixteentli  century  tlie  work  was  completed  by  the  latter  FitzAlans,  who  erected  a 
N.E.  wing  and  a  noble  gallery  120  feet  long,  lighted  by  eight  windows  overlooking 
the  courtyard.  The  highest  interest  must  ever  attach  to  Arundel  Castle  on 
account  of  the  fortunes  and  actions  of  the  various  families  who  from  early  ages 
iiave  been  connected  with  the  edifice,  the  history  of  which  forms  an  interesting 
chapter  in  that  of  the  country  itself. 

BOD  I  AM  {chief) 

BODI.AM  is  a  magnificent  castle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  situated  4!-  miles 
from  l^obertsbridge,  close  to  the  river  Rother,  which  forms  there  the 
boundary  of  this  countvwith  Kent  ;  the  large  moat,  or  rather  lake,  which  defended 
it,  is  connected  with  the  river.  The  trace  of  the  structure  is  nearly  a  square, 
enclosing  a  large  area,  surrounded  by  a  broad  and  deep  moat,  and  having  a 
massive  roimd  tower  at  each  angle  of  the  walls.  The  gates  were  on  the  N.  and 
S.  fronts,  and  there  was  a  square  tower  in  the  centre  of  the  E.  and  W.  sides.  The 
grand  entrance  gatehouse,  in  the  middle  of  the  N.  front,  was  approached  by  a 
raised  causeway,  defended  by  a  small  barbican,  of  which  some  remains  exist ;  this 
entrance  is  exceedingly  line,  being  flanked  by  two  grandly  machicolated  square 
towers.  On  tiie  opposite  S.  face  is  a  square  tower,  pierced  by  a  postern  giving  on 
the  moat :  in  all  there  are  nine  towers. 

The  lands  in  this  part  of  Sussex  became  hrst  the  property  of  the  Norman 
Count  d'Eu,  a  kinsman  of  the  Conqueror,  whose  family  possessions  in  Normandy 
were  at  Eu,  near  the  coast  not  far  from  Dieppe,  where  is  now  the  magnificent 
Chateau  d'Eu,  the  well-known  residence  of  King  Louis  Philippe,  and  where  H.M. 
Queen  Victoria  and  Prince  Albert  were  entertained  in  1846.  In  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  lliesL-  lands  belonged  to  Roger  de  Bodeham,  and  afterwards  to  the 
family  of  Wardedieu,  whose  heiress,  about  the  year  1377,  married  a  gallant  soldier, 
Sir  Edward  Dalyngrugge,  of  East  Grinstead.  This  knight  had  served  during  the 
wars  in  France  with  the  Black  Prince,  and,  like  many  of  the  English  knights, 
by  the  plunder  of  towns  and  castles,  or  by  the  ransom  of  prisoners,  had 
amassed  great  wealth,  which  after  his  marriage  he  proceeded  to  expend  on  the 
construction  of  this  beautiful  castle.  It  was  erected  on  a  site  chosen  by  him,  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  original  abode  of  his  predecessors,  the  Bodehams  and 
Wardedieus,  whose  moated  residence  can  still  be  traced  on  the  N.  side  of  the 
Hodiam  ruin.  The  licence  to  crenellate  is  dated  9  Richard  II.  (1386)  to 
"  Edwardus  Dalyngrigge,  chivaler,  mansum  manerii,  Bodyham,  Sussex,"  and  the 
Patent    Roll   ;idds :    "et   Castrum   inde   in    defensionem   patriaj    adjacentis    pro 


"*»' it- Under 

•Mortlie 


dowsover 


'■^fected  a 


••".''Crestina 


foniis  there  the 

■riclldfd 

It  on  the  N,  and 
DdW.  sides.  The 


poslem  giving  on 

■   •  tt-r  \'i)fniaii 

If  the  magnfant 
:,ind  where  H,M. 
,  In  the  reign  of 
itiera^s  to  k 
di  gallant  soldier, 
sjn^d  during  the 

■■  :>hisiit?, 

,,,:,;;.,  InJ 
to  expend  on  the 
|^nbyhun,ata 
he  Bodehanis  and 
the  N.  side  o(  the 
urd  II.  (■#)'" 
,  Susses,"  M^'^' 
X  adjacentis  p 


( 


SUSSEX 


65 


resistcntia  inimicoium  nostroriiin  construere  : "  an   iiiuisiial   jihrase,  referring  to 
the  Frencli. 

Sir  Edward's  niece  Philippa  hroii^lit  tlie  castle  and  lands  in  marriage  to  Sir 
Tliomas  Lewkenor,  whose  descendant,  opposing  Richard  111.,  was  attainted,  and 
the  castle  was  besieged  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey.  Some  earthworks  in  the  field  X. 
of  the  castle  are  perhaps  due  to  liiis  attack.  Henry  \'l I.  reversed  the  attainder,  but 
in  15X3  the  I.ewkenor^'  iniiiKity  went  to  the   Karl  of  Thaiiet,  and  was  purchased 


nouiAM 


from  this  lamily  by  the  I'owcls,  who  afterwards  sold  the  castle  to  Sir  Thomas 
Webster,  of  Battle  .Abbey. 

In  1643  liodiam  was  dismantled  liy  Sir  William  Waller,  who,  after  the  siege  of 
Arundel,  despatched  parties  to  destroy  all  the  Royalist  fortresses  in  Sussex,  wiieii 
the  materials  were  sold,  and  nothing  was  left  of  this  grand  structure  except  the 
outer  walls  and  towers. 

It  is  but  the  shell  of  a  tine  early  Perpendicular  castle,  the  outer  walls  being 
perfect,  though  the  interior  is  in  ruins;  the  walls,  rising  from  splayed  bases  direct 
from  the  moat,  are  built  of  excellent  masonry  throughout,  the  whole  being 
evidently  of  the  same  period.  The  great  X.  gatehouse  was  the  principal  tower,  in 
front  of  which,  on  the  causewav,  stood  the  barbican,  which  is  shown  in  Buck's 
drawing  ;  the  entiance,  recessed  between  the  two  squaie  flanking  towers,  had  a 
vaulted  passage,  30  feet  long,  pierced  with  fan  tracery  lor  t)lTensive  purposes,  of 
which  the  okl  wooden  gate  and  the  lower  portion  of  the  old  portcullis  remain  ; 
(jf  these  defences  there  were  three  in  the  passage.  The  lodgings  and  oflices  were 
VOL.  I.  I 


66  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

built  round  tlic  main  walls,  the  southern  side  having  its  centre  postern,  with  the 
great  hall  and  the  kitchens  and  buttery  on  either  side  of  this  gate.  The  floors 
were  mostly  of  wood,  the  kitchen  being  the  whole  height  of  the  building  of  two 
storeys.  The  chapel  on  the  S.  had  a  window  of  three  lights,  and  next  to  it  were 
the  dwellings  of  the  lord  and  lady  of  the  castle.  The  towers  have  chimneys  and 
fireplaces  remaining,  but  the  floors  have  gone  ;  their  interiors  are  hexagonal. 
The  abutments  of  the  bridges,  both  at  the  chief  entrance  and  at  the  S.  sallyport,  may 
yet  be  seen.  It  is  altogether  more  of  a  castle  than  a  house  ;  it  was  habitable,  but 
built  chiefly  for  defence — in  this  respect  the  opposite  of  Hurstmonceux.  Imme- 
diately over  the  entrance  are  three  shields  bearing  the  arms  of  Bodeham, 
Dalyngrugge,  and  VVardedieu,  and  above,  the  crest  of  the  founder,  a  unicorn's 
head.     (Parker.) 

BRAMBER   {minor) 

THE  Domesday  Survey  mentions  a  castellum  existing  here,  but  no  record 
shows  when  the  stronghold  was  erected,  and  the  nature  of  the  earthworks 
formed  would  throw  back  the  origin  to  a  very  early  date.  The  Conqueror 
bestowed  the  manor,  with  forty  other  Sussex  lordships,  on  one  of  the  most 
important  of  his  Norman  barons,  William  de  Braose  (near  Samur  on  the  Loire), 
who  likewise  had  Abergavenny  and  large  possessions  on  the  Welsh  Marches. 
His  immediate  successor  obtained  leave  to  build  a  castle  at  Bramber,  which  was 
one  of  the  six  Norman  fortresses  that  defended  the  six  rapes  into  which  Sussex 
was  divided. 

In  1208-9,  '^t  the  time  of  the  Papal  interdict,  King  John,  distrusting  divers  of 
his  nobles,  demanded  hostages  for  their  fidelity,  and  among  the  rest  required  from 
William  de  Braose,  fourth  baron  of  Bramber,  that  he  should  consign  his  children 
to  the  Koyal  tutelage.  According  to  Matthew  Paris,  his  wife,  Maud,*  returned 
answer  that  she  would  never  trust  her  children  with  a  king  who  had  basely 
murdered  his  own  nephew,  which  saying  being  reported  to  John,  he  sent  to 
Bramber  to  seize  the  whole  family,  who,  getting  notice  of  this,  fled  to  Scot- 
land, and,  as  some  say,  to  Ireland.  The  more  likely  reason  for  John's  enmity 
was  that  Maud  had  undertaken  to  make  payment  of  a  large  sum  of  money  in 
liquidation  of  certain  lines  claimed  against  her  husband,  but  had  afterwards 
repudiated  the  debt.  Then  follows  a  horrible  story  which  is  variously  told,  but,  as 
quoted  from  the  account  given  by  a  contemporary  writer,  in  strong  Norman 
dialect,  printed  in  France  in  1840  (by  the  Societe  de  I'Histoire  de  France)  runs 

*  In  T.  Wright's  "  History  of  Ludlow,"  it  is  said  :  "  Maud  de  St.  Valeri  (or  de  Haye), 
was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  women  of  her  time,  and  no  less  active  in  the  wars  than 
her  husband.  At  first  she  and  her  husband  enjoyed  the  royal  favour,  and  she  on  one 
occasion  presented  to  the  queen  300  cows  and  one  bull,  all  of  them  white  with  red  ears  ; 
and  she  boasted  that  she  possessed  12,000  milch  cows." 


SUSSEX  67 

thus  :  "  Fleeing  from  John,  they  came  to  the  Isk-  of  ^Fan,  and  then  to  Scotland, 
where  they  were  taken  and  sent  to  the  king.  He  ordered  them  to  be  inclosed  in 
a  room  in  Corfe  Castle,  with  a  sheaf  of  wheat  and  a  piece  of  raw  bacon  for  their 
only  provisions.  On  the  eleventh  day  their  prison  was  opened,  and  they  were 
found  both  dead.  The  mother  was  sitting  upright  between  her  son's  legs,  with 
her  head  leaning  back  on  his  breast,  whilst  he  was  also  in  a  sitting  position  with 
his  face  turned  towards  the  ground.  Maud  de  Braose,  in  iier  last  pangs  of 
hunger,  had  gnawed  the  cheeks  of  her  son,  then  probably  dead,  and  after  this 
effort  she  appeared  to  haw  fallen  into  the  position  in  which  she  was  found."  In 
this  version  only  the  mother  and  son  are  given,  the  common  story  being  that  all 
the  family  were  shut  up  and  starved,  two  sons  alone  escaping,  as  well  as  Braose 
himself,  whom  Stowe  affirms  to  have  been  as  notable  for  his  ferocity  as  for  iiis 
powLT,  and  who,  fleeing  to  Krance,  died  there  the  ne.xl  year  (121 2).  They  are 
usually  said  to  have  been  inmiured  in  Windsor  Castle,  but  it  is  less  likely  that 
the  tyrant  should  have  peipetrated  the  crime  there  than  in  a  remote  place  like 
Corfe,  which  castle  he  had  already  chosen  for  another  of  his  atrocities,  in  the 
murder  of  tweiitv-two  French  nobles  and  knights  in  1203.     (Sec  COKFE,  DOKSET.) 

Braose  himself  is  accused  of  the  commission  of  a  terrible  crime  in  Wales,  but 
there  is  scanty  evidence  of  the  truth  :  he  is  said  to  have  beguiled  Sitfylt  of 
Dimswald  and  several  other  powerful  chiefs  to  a  feast  at  his  castle  of  Abergavenny, 
and  to  have  there  murdered  them,  after  which  he  went  to  Sitfylt's  house  and  there 
slew  his  only  sursiving  son,  in  the  l1re^^ence  of  the  mother,  and  then  set  fire  to  the 
building. 

Having  got  rid  of  the  familv,  as  he  thought.  King  John  laid  hands  on  their 
estates,  and  gave  Bramber  to  his  second  son  Richartl,  Far!  of  Cornwall,  but 
before  his  death  he  found  it  politic  to  restore  a  part  of  the  lands  to  Reginald  de 
Braose,  one  of  the  sons  who,  on  the  accession  of  Henry  111.,  obtained  complete 
restitution  of  the  family  estates. 

In  the  leign  of  Fdward  11.,  William  de  Braose — the  last  of  his  line — dying  in 
1324,  gave  Bramber  with  his  daughter  Aliva  in  marriage  to  John,  the  son  of  Roger 
de  Mowbray,  of  Norfolk,  who,  joining  the  party  of  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster, 
against  the  Spcnsers,  was  deprived  of  his  lands  and  beheaded  at  York  in  1322. 
Edward  ill.,  however,  restored  them,  and  they,  with  the  castles  of  Bramber  and 
Knepp,  continued  in  this  familv  till  the  death  of  |ohn,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  at 
Bosworth  P'ield,  when,  being  escheated  to  the  Crown,  they  were  conferred  on 
Thomas,  Lord  de  la  Warr.  They  are  now  again  the  property  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

The  castle,  a  few  miles  X.  of  Worthing,  stands  on  high  ground  on  what  was  in 
early  times  a  sort  of  promontory  overlooking  the  estuary  of  the  Adur,  and  vessels 
of  considerable  burden  could  come  up  thus  far.  The  tide  also  must  have  come  to 
Bramber,  as  there  were  salt-pans  for  making  this  condiment  beneath  the  castle 
walls.  But  what  was  then  water  is  now  meadow  and  marsh  land,  while  the  sea  is 
visible  in  the  far  distance. 


68  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

There  is  but  little  left  of  the  NoniKiii  structure  whicli,  by  the  disposition  of  the 
frajimeiits  remaining  of  its  outer  wall  on  the  W.  side,  seems  to  have  been  adapted 
to  the  eircumvallation  of  an  ancient  earthwork,  whose  mound,  or  burh,  remains  on 
the  castle  platform.  These  walls,  formed  of  large  and  small  stones  and  pebbles 
from  the  sea-beach,  laid  in  very  thick  masses  of  mortar,  have  been  built  round  the 
edge  of  the  embankment,  or  rather  escarpment,  outside  which  the  ground  falls  in 
the  large  anil  very  deep  ditch  surrounding  this  wall,  now  thickly  wooded  ; 
outside  this  ditch  was  another  strong  and  high  earthen  rampart  at  a  much  lower 
level,  from  which  the  ground  level  is  reached.  There  is  no  gatehouse,  but  the 
entrance  is  at  the  S.  end  of  the  work,  which  is  an  oval  of  about  560  feet  by  280, 
and  near  it  remains  a  large  portion  of  a  lofty  tower,  which  has  been  the  dwelling- 
house  and  keep  in  one  ;  it  is  40  feet  square  and  about  70  feet  high,  was  once  filled 
by  three  timber  floors,  and  from  it  some  notion  can  be  formed  of  this  fortress 
of  Braose.  It  was  pi-obably  never  inhabited  by  an  owner  after  the  death  of  the 
last  William  de  Braose,  though  enough  remained  of  it  in  the  seventeenth  century 
to  allow  of  a  Royalist  garrison  holding  the  place,  which,  in  consequence,  was 
demolished  after  the  Civil  War.  The  masonry  has  been  very  fine,  dating  about 
1095,  and  in  the  upper  storey  is  an  exceedingly  noble  window. 

CAMBER,    OR   WINCH ELSEA    CASTLE  {minor) 

CAMBER  CASTLE  stands  in  the  marshes,  on  a  peninsula  two  miles  N.E.  of 
the  town  of  Winchelsea,  and  about  half  a  mile  from  the  sea.  It  was  erected 
by  Henry  VI 11.,  in  1539-40,  perhaps  on  the  site  of  an  earlier  work,  being  one  of 
the  coast  forts  or  block-houses,  built  for  the  protection  of  the  southern  coasts  at  a 
time  when  a  combined  attack  upon  England  by  some  of  the  Continental 
Powers  seemed  imminent.  Hall,  in  his  Chronicle,  thus  alludes  to  these  forts  : 
"The  Kynges  hyghnes,  whiche  never  ceased  to  stody  and  take  payne  for  the 
advancement  of  the  common  wealth  of  this  his  realme  of  England,  and  also  for 
the  defence  of  al  the  same,  was  lately  confourmed  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  had 
moved  and  stirred  dyverse  great  princes  and  potentates  of  Christendome  to  invade 
the  realme  of  England  and  utterly  to  destroy  the  whole  nation  of  the  same  ; 
wherefore  his  Majestic  in  his  owne  persone,  without  any  deley,  toke  very 
laborious  and  paynefull  journeyes  towards  the  sea-coaste  ;  also  he  sent  dyverse  of 
his  nobles  and  counsaylours  to  view  and  search  all  the  portes  and  daungers  on 
the  coastes,  where  any  week  or  convenient  landyng  place  might  be  supposed." 

Henry  obtained,  with  much  difficulty,  a  grant  towards  the  cost  of  building 
block-houses,  it  being  objected  that  this  was  a  time  of  profound  peace  ;  but  it 
was  urged  that  the  keeping  of  his  subjects  in  peace  cost  more  than  the  most 
burdensome  war. 

The  forts  in  question  cost  423,000,  or  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  our 
money.     Like  others  erected  at  the  same  epoch,  Camber  Castle  consists  of  one 


SUSSEX  69 

huge,  low,  round  tower  in  the  centre,  which  served  as  a  keep,  and  was  surrounded 
by  several  smaller  ones  of  tiie  same  lij^ure  set  round  it,  each  connected  by  short 
curtain  walls— a  poor  lorm  ol  military  architecture,  almost  incapable  of  defence. 

It  is  curious  to  remark,  from  a  drawing  in  an  old  MS.  in  the  British  Museum 
representing  the  ancient  castle  which  once  stood  at  Buckenham,  that  the  form  of 
this  is  very  much  the  same  as  Camber,  Buckenham  Castle  having  been  built 
about  the  year  i  1 56.  The  trade  of  the  once  flourishing  town  of  Winchelsea 
having  been  totally  lost  by  the  retreat  of  the  sea  from  its  harbour,  whilst  the 
growing  strength  of  the  navy  protected  the  coasts  from  a  hostile  landing,  the 
value  of  this  castle  ceased,  and  it  was  suffered  to  fall  into  decay  and  ruin. 

C  H  I C  H  K  S T  E  R  {twn-rxistent) 

THIS  was  the  fortress  of  the  rape  of  Chichester,  and  was  granted  by  the 
Conqueror  to  Roger  de  Montgomeri,  Karl  of  Chichester  and  Arundel,  with 
eighty-three  other  manors.  The  castle  in  the  reign  of  Henry  HI.  formed  part  of 
the  dowry  of  the  Queen  Mother.  Its  destruction  was  ordered  by  King  John 
as  in  the  case  of  several  other  castles,  but  this  was  apparenllv  not  carried 
out,  since  we  find  that  in  1217,  after  the  accession  of  Henrv  III.,  orders  were 
issued  to  Philip  de  Aliiiiii  to  throw  down  and  destroy  this  fortress,  which  was 
effected  as  far  as  its  defences  were  concerned.  In  1219  it  was  made  into  a 
prison,  and  later  in  the  same  reign  it  was  made  to  serve  as  a  dwelling  for 
the  Bishop. 

No  traces  remain  now  of  the  structure,   unless  it  be  in  an  artificial  mound  of 
moderate  height  in  the  Priory  Park.     It  is  said  that  the  original  castle  was  built 
by  the  Earl  d'Alenv'on  in  the  X.E.  quarter  of  the  old  Roman  camp  of  Re<'num 
where  the  South  Saxons  had  occupied  the  S.W.  quaiter  with  the  fabric  of  their 
first  cathedral. 


A 


CROW  HURST    (fmnor) 

r  Crowhurst  are  the  remains  of  a  once  defensible  manor  house,  dating  from 
^  ^  1 251,  which  is  believed  to  have  been  built,  or  at  least  owned,  by  the  same 
Walter  de  Scotney  who  was  executed  in  1259  for  his  complicity  in  the  attempt  to 
poistJU  Richard  dr  Clare,  Earl  of  CHoucester  and  others  at  a  banquet.  (See 
Scotney.)  He  was  lord  of  Crowhurst  and  had  rights  of  free  warren  there  for  his 
subsistence  and  sport.  Originally  there  was  placed  here  a  Xorman  castellum,  or 
entrenched  post,  for  the  settlement  of  the  country  round. 

The  remains  are  small,  consisting  of  a  building  40  feet  by  23,  of  two  storeys, 
with  a  porch  on  the  S.E.  angle  that  is  groined  and  has  a  finely  moulded  door  ; 
over  the  passage  is  a  small  room,  possibly  a  chapel.  The  upper  room  has  the 
eastern  gable  remaining  with  a  large  window  of  two  lights,  the  mouldings  being 


^o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

particiil:irly  rich.  The  lower  storey  is  vaulted.  It  cannot  be  determined  whether 
a  hall  or  any  other  portion  existed ;  but  the  room  remaining  appears  to  have 
formed  the  chamber  or  solar.     (Parker.) 

EWHURST  {minor) 

THERE  was  a  manor  of  considerable  importance  at  Ewhurst,  with  the  ancient 
residence  of  the  Peverel  family,  from  whom  it  descended  to  the  Wests, 
Lords  Delawarr.  They  owned  it  imtil  1529,  when  it  passed  to  the  families 
successively  of  Pelham,  Byrne,  and  Heath,  and  ultimately  to  the  Earl  of 
Chichester,  who  sold  the  estate  in  1785  to  Dr.  Challen. 

Sir  Andrew  Peverel  appears  to  have  acquired  his  possessions,  about  12 16,  from 
William  de  Braose,  Lord  of  Bramber,  and  his  descendants  of  the  same  name  held 
them  till  1376;  the  Peverels,  no  doubt,  built  the  original  house  in  King  John's 
time,  and  were  cert.iinly  dwelling  here  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
Then  in  default  of  heirs  male  the  place  passed  by  daughters  and  wives  to  a  family 
called  Brocas,  and  in  1392  to  Alicia,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Lord  West,  who  held  it  at 
his  death  in  1416,  and  his  descendants  continued  to  live  here  in  Queen  Mary's 
reign. 

The  old  manor  house  of  the  Pelhams  has  disappeared,  but  there  are  still  some 
fragments  of  the  earlier  moated  residence  of  the  Peverels  and  Wests  ;  the  style  is 
that  of  Edwartl  I.  wIkmi  the  Peverels  had  it.  There  is  still  standing  the  detached 
entianee  gatehouse,  a  good  specimen  of  Edwardian  work,  having  an  arched 
gateway  with  a  groined  ceiling,  and  a  tower  with  a  high  pointed  roof  over  this. 
On  each  side  are  guard  rooms  or  lodges,  built  of  rag  and  sandstone  ;  the  ancient 
massive  gates,  too,  still  remain,  having  a  small  wicket  contained,  and  there  is  a 
good  chinuiev. 

HART  FIELD  {non-existent) 

THERE  is  a  field  X.  of  the  village  of  Hartfield  called  "the  Castle  Field,"  the 
unevenness  of  whose  surface,  together  with  the  existence  of  a  large  mound 
standing  in  the  centre,  clearly  shows  that  a  small  castle  once  stood  on  this  spot, 
the  foundations  of  which  might  still  be  discovered  beneath  the  surface. 

It  was  a  hunting  seat  of  the  Barons  of  Pevensey,  and  there  seems  to  have 
been  a  similar  seat  or  lodge  belonging  to  them  at  Maresfield.  This  was  a 
favourite  sporting  district  of  the  early  kings,  and  a  deed  exists  of  Edward  II. 
dated  from  the  place.  Nothing  else  is  known  as  to  the  house,  which  was  clearly 
fortified. 


SUSSEX 


71 


HASTIXGS   {minor) 

HASTINGS  CASTLE  stands  on  tlic  summit  of  a  lofty  and  precipitous  ridge  of 
tile  Weaiden  formation,  wliicli  divides  now  the  more  modern  town  from 
the  older  one.     Helow   it,  and   towards  the  W.,  onee  existed   the  small  harbour 


HASllNl.^ 


which  constituted  Ilastini;s  tlie  eiiiet  member  ol  the  Cnuiiie  I'urts.  IlitJRr  al 
once  repaired  the  greater  part  of  Duke  William's  fleet,  after  the  landing  of  the 
cavalry  at  Pevensey,  and,  upon  the  commanding  plateau  on  the  cliff  above,  the 
Xorman  headquarters  were  established  and  maintained  for  two  weeks,  until  the 
army  set  forward  on  its  march  to  meet  the  t^nglish  at  Seniac.  During  this  time, 
a  cruel  harrying  of  this  district  was  cairied  on  for  the  double  purpose  of  main- 
taining the  troops  and  of  drawing  down  the  Saxon  attack. 

It  is  probable  that  some  early  fortifications  already  existed  uiion  these  heights, 


73  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

luiving  a  moiiiul  and  a  ditch,  and  tliat  these  were  fixed  on  for  the  raising  of  one  of 
the  wooden  castles  brouglit  from  Normandy,  as  we  see  in  the  Bayeux  tapestry. 
But  the  date  of  the  erection  of  the  stone  castle  here  is  uncertain,  and,  though  this 
is  said  to  have  been  the  scene  of  the  first  tournament  held  in  England,  early  in 
the  reign  of  William  I.,  at  which  his  daughter  Adela  presided,  it  is  certain  that 
no  very  early  Xorman  architecture  is  to  be  seen  here. 

The  Conqueror  gave  the  manor,  castlery,  and  the  whole   Rape  of   Hastings  to 
his  kinsman,  Robert,  Count  of  Eu,  whose  descendants  retained  possession  till 


HASTINGS 


about  the  year  1250  ;  he,  with  his  son,  carried  out  some  of  the  masonry  of 
the  enclosing  walls  which  we  see,  so  that,  in  the  year  1088,  a  stronghold  existed, 
whicii  was  occupied  in  force  by  the  Red  King  for  his  purposed  invasion  of  Nor- 
mandy. But  the  Counts  of  Eu  lived  at  their  fine  Chateau  d'Eu,  near  Dieppe,  and 
appear  to  have  neglected  their  castle  at  Hastings,  which,  by  the  year  1200,  had 
fallen  into  decav.  Henry,  fifth  Earl,  left  an  only  daughter,  Alice,  who  brought 
the  lands  and  the  title  to  Ralph  de  Essoudun,  whose  son,  choosing  to  remain  a 
subject  of  France,  had  his  possessions  escheated  by  Henry  HI.  to  the  Crown. 
In  1265  Simon  de  Montfort,  junior,  preferred  to  retreat  for  protection,  after  the 
slaughter  of  his  father  at  Evesham,  rather  to  the  walls  of  Winchelsea  than  to  the 
insecure  shelter  of  Hastings.  In  5  Edward  II 1.  repairs  were  given  by  the  town 
to  tile  walls,  which  had  been  devastated  by  encroachments  of  the  sea,  causing 
land-slips  of  the  cliff,  from  which  the  castle  seems  to  have  suffered  at  various 
times.  Edward  111.  granted  Hastings  to  his  fourth  son,  John  of  Gaunt,  in 
1372,    but    in    the   succeeding  reign    the    castle    was    in    a    ruinous    state,    nor 


SUSSEX  73 

does  it  SL-c-in  to  li;ive  l-vlt  been  repaired.  Tlie  Kreneli  landed  lieie  in  the 
rei^n  of  Richard  11.,  and  destroyed  part  of  the  town,  tlie  castle  bein},'  of  no 
use  as  a  defence. 

Henry  IV.  granted  the  Honour  and  Castle  of  Hastings  to  Neville,  Earl  of  West- 
morland, with  reversion  to  Sir  John  I'elham  (sir  PliVliNSKV),  who,  in  141 2,  trans- 
ferred it  to  Sir  Thomas  Hoo,  created  Haron  Hastings,  who  died  s.p.  male  in  1453. 
In  1591  his  descendant,  Henry,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  sold  it  to  Sir  Thomas  Pelham, 
with  whose  representative,  the  Earl  of  Chichester,  the  property  still  remains. 

There  was  an  outer  ward  to  the  castle  on  the  E.  side  of  the  great  ditch  which 
divides  the  ridge,  and  is  cut  m  the  live  rock  for  400  feet  in  length,  and  60  feet  in 
breadtii.  \o  masonry  e.xists  here,  and  perhaps  this  ward  was  defended  only  by 
a  palisade.  (Clark.)  Across  this  fosse,  over  which  access  must  have  been  obtained 
by  a  bridge  to  the  gateway  on  the  E.,  lies  the  inner  ward,  which  constitutes  the 
castle,  it  is  formed  by  a  curtain  wall  running  from  the  point  of  the  spur  along 
the  X.  face  to  the  edge  of  the  ditch,  along  which  it  turns  at  right  angles,  following 
it  to  the  edge  of  the  precipice  on  the  S.  face,  where  the  cliff  formed  an  all- 
sufticient  defence. 

At  the  turning  angle  at  the  fosse  the  wall  is  carried  tluough  the  artilicial 
mound  before  spoken  of,  near  which  is  the  entrance  gateway  with  two  circular- 
headed  towers  flanking  the  entrance,  which  has  a  square  portcullis  groove. 
Between  this  point  and  the  edge  of  the  cliff  is  another  similar  mural  tower. 

The  present  entrance  is  a  short  distance  from  the  above  angle  at  the  mound 
along  the  N.  front,  protected  by  a  late  tower  with  thin  walls,  connected  with  an 
older  building,  close  to  which  is  a  rectangular  Norman  tower  with  three  sttjreys, 
and  containing  a  well-staircase  which  communicated  with  the  adjoining  chapel. 
This  chapel  of  St.  Mary  had  a  collegiate  foundation  ;  its  nave  was  64  feet  long 
by  30  feet  wide,  and  was  built  against  the  N.  curtain  wall.  The  high-pointed 
arch  of  the  chancel  remains  in  a  perfect  state,  and  the  whole  seems  to  be  almost 
Early  English  style.  Beyond  this  is  another  square  tower  with  tiaces  of  a 
postern.  There  was  never  any  keep,  nor  can  anything  be  traced  ol  either  hall, 
oi"  kitchen,  oi'  lodgings  within  the  area  of  il  acres. 


T 


H  r  K'  S  'i^  M  O  X  C  E  V  X  (c/;/</) 

HREE  miles  from  I'evensey.  A  noble  castellated  mansion,  built  entirely  of 
red  brick  with  stone  dressings,  in  the  best  style  of  the  hfteenth  century. 
It  forms  ;i  link  between  the  fortihed  castle  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  a  palatial 
maiKir-housc,  such  as  was  adopted  bv  the  rich  nobles  in  later  times  of  increased 
security,  and  until  its  demolition  in  1777  it  was  counted  as  the  most  perfect  and 
regular  castellated  house  in  England.  Now,  little  remains  except  the  outer  walls 
and  towers — a  mere  shell  ;  but  from  these  ruins,  with  the  aid  of  plans  and 
drawings  existing  of  the  perfect  structure,  we  can  realise  what  this  was.     It  stands 

VOL.   I.  K 


74  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

oil  low  jirouiid  at  tlie  head  of  tiie  Pevensey  Level  of  marsli  land,  where  probably 
in  early  times  the  sea  flowed  up  to  the  edge  of  the  forest  lands  of  Anderida  that 
covered  all  this  southern  district  of  Sussex.   The  name  of  the  manoi- was  originally 
Herst  or  Hurst,  which  signifies  a  wooded  tract,  and  soon  after  the  Conquest  this 
manor   of    Hurst  became  the  property  of  a  noble  family,  whose  head  took  the 
appellation  of  William  de  Herst,  to  which  (temp.  Henry  11.)  was  added  the  name 
of  the  Norman  territory  from  which  they  came,  namely  Monceux — probably  the 
place  of  that  name  near  Bayeux  ;  this  name  was  also  given  to  another  property 
with  which  the  family  was  connected,  Compton  Monceux,  in  Hants.     On  failure 
of  heirs  male  in  this  family  (cir.  1320),  the  heiress,  Maud,  carried  the  manor  by 
marriage  to  Sir  John  de  Fiennes,  the  descendant  of  an  ancient   Norman  race — a 
member  of  which  had  come  over  with  Duke  William — and  Hurstmonceux,  about 
the  middle  of  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  became  their  chief  residence  :  their  house 
mav  have  been  on  the  same  site  as  the  later  mansion.     The  grandson  of  this  Sir 
John,   Sir   William    Kiennes,   had   two  sons,    Roger   and   James,  the  latter   being 
afterwards  made  Lord   Saye   and   Sele   and    Lord   Treasuier   of  England,   who 
was  murdered  by  the  mob  of  Jack  Cade.     The  elder  was  a  bold  soldier  of  high 
reputation,  who  fought  at  Agincourt,  and  became  Treasurer  of  the  Household  to 
Henry  VI.     He  it  was  who  built  the  fortress  in  question  in    1440.     His  son,  Sir 
Richard,  married  the  daughter  of  Thomas,  Lord  Dacre,  of  the  South  {sec  Naworth, 
Cumhkkl.-\\d),  and  the  estates  passed  into  the  Dacre  family,  with  whom  they 
continued  until  37  Elizabeth,  when,  by  the  marriage  of  an  heiress,  they  came  into 
the  possession  of  a  Kentish  family  of  the  name  of  Leonard,  or  Lennard,  the  heir 
succeeding  to  the  title  of  twelfth  Lord  Dacre.     His  grandson,  fifteenth  baron,  was 
created,  in  1674,  Earl  of  Sussex,  and  was  a  Lord  of  the  Bedchamber  to  Charles  II., 
whose  daughter,  by  the  Duchess  of  Cleveland,  he  married.     He  ruined  himself  by 
extravagance,  and  was  forced,  a  few  years  before  his  death,  which   happened  in 
'715'  to  dispose  of  the  Hurstmonceux  estates  to  George   Naylor,  for  ;438,2i5. 
This  gentleman,  dying  s.p.,  left  the  property  to  his  sister,  the  wife  of  a  cousin, 
Dr.  Hare,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  from  whom  it  came,  in  a  condition  of  neglect,  to 
his  second  son,  the  Rev.  Robert  Hare,  by  whose  "Gothic  barbarity,"  under  the 
baneful  advice  of  the  architect,  Samuel  Wyatt,  this  princely  abode  was  ruthlessly 
stripped  and  destroyed  in  order  to  build  a  brand-new  house  called  Hurstmonceux 
Place,  the    ancient   tapestries,    and    furniture,   and    the    carvings    being    sold    by 
auction.     The  property  has  been  sold  three  times  since  :  first,  to  Thomas  Reed 
Kemp,  in  1807  ;  next,  to  the  trustees  of  the  late  John  Gillow,  and  in  1846  it  was 
purchased  by  the  late  Mr.  Herbert  B.  Curteis,  M.P.,  whose  son,  Mr.  Herbert  M. 
Curteis,  formerly  M.P.  for  Rye,  is  the  present  owner. 

Although  little  remains  but  the  outer  walls  of  Hurstmonceux  Castle,  yet  the 
perfection  of  the  brickwork  is  such  that  this  material  still  stands  in  thorough 
preservation.  The  mansion,  which  was  protected  by  a  wide  moat  and  a  draw- 
bridge that  was  in  existence  when  Horace  Walpole  visited  the  place  in  1752,  was 


enanie 


I 


i;'.MS 


SUSSEX 


75 


built  ill  a  square  of  four  strongly  fortified  walls,  enclosing  four  inner  courts, 
round  which  were  grouped,  on  two  floors,  all  the  apartments  necessary  for  the 
establishment  of  a  great  noble.  On  the  S.  front,  a  facade  of  magnificent  aspect,  is 
the  great  entrance,  placed 
between  two  lofty  towers, 
84  feet  in  height,  and  forti- 
fied by  a  heavy  machicoulis 
and  two  turrets  above.  At 
each  of  the  four  corners  of 
the  ediiicc,  and  at  regular 
distances  along  the  walls, 
which  arose  straight  from 
the  moat,  are  strong  flanking 
towers  of  semi-octagonal  or 
semi-circular  shape,  the  chief 
apartments  on  the  upper 
floor  being  lighted  fiequentl\ 
by  splendid  oriel  windows  oi 
great  size.  The  buildin- 
measures  2o6i  feet  along  tlu 
S.  front,  and  214^  from  X. 
to  S. 

If  we  except  Raglan,  in 
Monmouthshire,  there  is  no 
mediccval  castle  in  England 
with  so  imposing  an  en- 
trance ;  the  gateway,  re- 
cessed in  a  lofty  pointed 
arch,  together  with  tlu 
square  window  ot  the  dr.iw- 
bridge  chamber,  is  supported 
on  either  side  by  a  superb 
octagonal    tower,    loopholed 

on  each  facet,  and  changing  into  a  iduikI  turret  above,  surmounted  again  by 
a  lesser  watch-turret.  In  front  is  a  sunk  jianel  bearing  the  device  of  the 
Kiennes,  the  alant  or  wolf-dog. 

The  whole  building  is  of  F"lemish  bricks,  probably  built  also  by  Flemings 
imported  by  Sir  Roger  P'iennes,  the  Lord  Treasurer  of  the  Houseliold,  and  it  is 
curious  that  the  other  equallv  magnilicent  specimen  of  brickwork  in  Kngland, 
Tattershall  Castle,  Lincolnshire,  should  have  been  built  at  the  same  time  and  of 
similar  material  by  Ralph  Lord  Cromwell,  who  was  Treasurer  to  the  same  king's 
e.xcliequer. 


1IUK>  I  Ml  'N(  l.L'X 


76 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


The  inferior  presents  little  more  than  a  piteous  maze  of  rnin,  thanks  to  the 
vandalism  of  the  Hare  family,  but  an  existing  plan  of  the  old  structure  enables  us 
to  trace  out  most  of  its  arrangements.  From  the  gateway  was  entered  the  green 
court,  round  each  side  of  which  ran  a  cloister  ;  behind  this  came  the  great  hall, 
=54  fee't  by  28,  and  28  feet  high  to  the  roof,  at  the  back  of  it  being  the  grand 
staircase  ;  thence  a  passage  led  to  the  postern  tower  and  bridge  at  the  centre  of 


9  Drawing  Room. 
10  Great  Parlour. 
19  Little        ,, 
21  Chapel. 
23,  25  Steward. 


HURST.MONCEUX 
Ground  Plan  {from  an  Old  Dra^viiig) 


26  Servants'  Hall 

16  Kitchen. 

10  Larder. 
3  4.  5  Still  Room,  &c. 
6,  7,  8  Butler's  Depmt. 


20,  22  Brew     and 
houses. 

24,  33  Laundry. 
34  Guard  Room, 
32  Green  Court. 


Bake- 


27  Pump  Court. 

11  Chicken  Court. 

12  Dairy. 

14  Great  Staircase. 
18  Great  Hall. 
38  Giurderobe. 


the  X.  tront.  \V.  of  the  green  court  was  the  pump  court,  and  next  to  the  staircase 
was  the  biitk-r's  paiUry  court,  separated  by  a  passage  from  the  chicken  court. 
.Almost  the  whole  of  the  ground  floor  was  devoted  to  the  servant's  offices,  kitchen, 
bakehouse,  brewhousc,  laundry,  &c.,  with  a  guard  chamber  on  the  W.  side  of  the 
entrance. 

Seven  staircases  and  four  spiral  stairs  gave  access  to  the  other  storev,  whereon 
the  private  and  state  apartments  occupied  the  X.  and  E.  fronts,  while  six  galleries 
gave  means  of  communication  to  the  inmates. 

The  fine  circular  bay  window  ne.xt  to  the  S.E.  angle  tower  lighted  the  lady's 


SUSSEX 


77 


bower,  ill  wliicli  it  is  said  tliat  Grace  Xaylor,  tlic  only  child  of  tiic  then  owner, 
was,  in  1727,  starved  to  death  gradually  by  her  governess.  The  great  drawing- 
room  and  adjoining  rooms  on  this  front  were  modernised  and  ornamented  by 
Thomas,  Earl  of   Sussex  (temp.  Charles  II.),  and  contained  the  fine  carvings  by 


<i-wra^i^b 


7  White  Gallery. 
15  Armour      ,, 
18  Bird 
to  4  Lord's  .Apartments. 


H  U  R  S  T  M  O  -N  C  E  U  X 
First  Flock  Plan 


6  Lady's  Apartments 

2  Private  Chapel. 

3  Bedroom. 

4  Library. 


5, 12, 13  State  Rooms. 

25  Breakfast  Koom. 

26  Lady's  Bower. 
28  Housekeeper. 


33  Chaplain 
I,  2,  3  Yeoman's  Rooms. 
17  Great  H.-111. 
16  Minstrel's  Gallery. 
31  Drummer's  Room. 


Gibbons,  spoken  of  by  Walpole.  The  chapel,  on  the  centre  of  the  E.  front,  the 
kitchen,  and  the  liall  occupied  the  height  of  both  floors. 

The  centre  building  was  battleuuiited  on  top,  and  is  described  by  Parker  to 
mark  the  turning-iioiiit  between  military  and  domestic  >triictiires. 

There  are  few  incidents  recorded  in  the  history  of  this  fortress,  but  the  tragic 
fate  of  one  of  its  noble  owners,  intimately  connected  as  it  is  with  Hurstmoriceux, 
must  always  be  of  interest  and  call  forth  sympathy.  Thomas,  ninth  Baron  Dacre, 
succeeded  his  grandfather  at  the  age  of  .seventeen.  He  was  wealthy  and  high  in 
favour  at  tiie  court  of  Henry  VHI.,  and  was  chosen,  with  several  other  peers, 
attended  by  tlieir  retainers  in  magnificent  costume,  to  form  the  cavalcade  that 
welcomed  .Anne  oi  Cleves  on  her  landing  in  England  in  1540.  The  next  year, 
being  only  twenty-four  years  of  age,  a  pitiable  fate  overtook  him.  One  night, 
being  at  lliirstuionceiix  with  a  party  of  other  young  men,  it  was  proposed,  :is  a 


jS  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

freak,  to  ride  over  to  the  nci<,']ibouiing  park  of  Sir  Nicolas  Pelham  and  kill 
a  deer.  Unfortunately  a  frav  ensued  with  the  keepers  of  the  preserves,  in  which 
one  of  them  received  an  unlucky  blow  of  which  he  afterwards  died.  Dacre 
and  his  friends  were  arrested  and  tried  for  murder,  and  although  it  was  proved 
that  the  former  was  not  at  hand  during  the  encounter,  but  in  a  different  part  of 
the  park,  yet  he  and  three  of  his  friends  were  condemned  to  death.  The  three 
gentlemen  were  accordingly  hung,  but  it  was  believed  that  the  King  would  interfere 
regarding  Uacre  :  indeed  when  the  sheriffs  were  leading  the  unfortunate  young 
nobleman  out  of  the  Tower  for  execution,  they  were  delayed  by  a  messenger 
from  the  court.  But  after  a  few  hours  the  sentence  was  carried  out  and  Lord 
Dacre  was  executed.  His  honours  were  forfeited,  but  were  afterwards  restored  to 
his  son  and  heir.  This  unfortunate  young  peer  "being,"  it  was  said,  "a  right 
towardlie  gentleman,  and  such  a  one  as  manie  had  conceived  great  hope  of  better 
proofe,  no  small  amount  of  lamentation  was  made  ;  the  more,  indeed,  for  that  it 
was  thought  lie  was  induced  to  attempt  such  follie,  which  occasioned  his  death,  by 
some  light  heads  that  were  then  about  him."  At  the  most,  the  hrst  part  ui  the 
ti^agedy  could  have  been  but  manslaughter. 

KNEPP  (wiuoi-) 

IS  in  the  parish  of  Shipley,  on  the  road  from  Worthing  to  Horsham,  from  which 
town  it  is  distant  6  miles.  The  old  name  is  spelt  "  Knap,"  from  the  Saxon 
Knoep,  the  summit  of  a  hill.  It  was  a  fortress  of  tlie  Rapes  of  Sussex,  from  very 
remote  times  attached  to  the  Honour  of  Bramber,  and  built  possibly  by  William 
de  Braose  after  he  had  obtained  the  grant  of  Bramber,  either  as  a  hunting  seat — 
for  these  Norman  lords  were  mighty  hunters,  after  the  pattern  of  the  two  first 
Williams — or  as  a  safe  retreat  from  Bramber.  It  formed  a  residence  for  his 
descendants  for  two  hundred  years  after  the  Conquest,  and  manv  of  their  deeds 
and  grants  were  signed  at  Cnap.  King  John  visited  this  place  in  April  1206, 
during  a  rebellion  raised  while  the  kingdom  was  under  interdict  by  Pope 
Innocent  III.,  and  while  he  was  himself  excommunicated  for  his  opposition  to 
the  appointment  of  Langton  to  the  See  of  Canterbury.  He  visited  it  again  in 
1209  and  i2n,  and  signed  some  grants  "apud  Cnap."  The  Braoses  kept  up 
an  immense  establishment  there  of  sporting  dogs  with  an  ofBcial  huntsman  for 
huntmg  deer  and  wild  boar,  which  were  salted  for  their  use  and  for  the  King's  in 
winter. 

After  restoring  Knepp  together  with  Bramber  in  12 14  to  the  Braose  family, 
John  seized  it  again,  and  repaired  thither  when  the  confederated  Barons  were 
assembled  against  him  in  January  1215  at  London,  and  he  kept  up  the 
hunting  arrangements  of  the  Braose  family.  His  queen,  Isabella,  was  there  in 
1214-15  for  eleven  days.  Just  a  month  before  his  death,  which  happened 
June  19,  1216,  John  signed  an  order  for  this  castle  to  be  burnt  and  destroyed,  a 


SUSSEX  79 

\v;in;int  possihlv  nut  acted  on,  as  \\x-  find  notices  of  Knepp  and  its  park  as  late  as 
1400.  This  restless  King,  in  liis  journeys  in  Sussex,  is  said  sometimes  to  liave 
travelled  fifty  miles  in  a  day,  an  incredible  distance,  considering  what  the  roads 
nuist  have  been  in  those  days. 

The  form  of  the  castle  can  he  traced  now  from  its  moat,  which  was  supplied 
from  a  branch  of  the  Adur  flowing  near.  It  formerly  had  a  shell  keep  upon  the 
mound,  of  which  traces  e.xist,  said  to  have  been  destroyed  in  12 16.  The  enclosed 
area  was  about  two  acres,  and  the  adjoining  meadow,  called  the  "  Town-field," 
was  connected  with  it  by  a  causeway.  The  portion  of  wall  still  standing  is  of 
great  thickness,  and  from  the  two  circular  arches  observable  in  a  remaining  part 
of  the  work — the  one  heading  a  doorway  into  the  keep,  and  the  other  a  windcnv 
over  it — the  structure  would  seem  to  be  of  early  Norman  date,  though  it  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Survey,  as  indeed  very  few  castles  are. 

LEWKS  {chief) 

THERE  was  a  Saxon  castle  here  in  very  early  times,  on  the  site  of  which 
William  de  Warenne  and  his  wife  Gundred,  the  (laughter  of  Duke 
William,  reared  a  Norman  castle,  which  continued  in  the  hands  of  that  family 
until  their  extinction  in  the  fourteenth  century,  when  Lewes  became  the  property 
of  the  FitzAlans  of  Arundel.  Isabella,  the  sole  heiress  in  the  fourth  generation, 
carried  the  earldom  in  man  iage,  lir-.t  to  Wiliiani  de  Blois,  a  son  of  King  Stephen, 
and  after  his  death  to  Hameline  I'lantageiiet,  a  brother  of  Henry  II.,  and  these 
great  lords  de  Warenne  continued  Jiere  until  the  last  of  them  died  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  111.  The  most  stilling  scenes  in  this  castle's  life  occurred  during  the 
Haion's  Wai-  in  12O5,  at  the  battle  of  Lewes,  before  the  erection  of  the  great 
Edwardian  gatehouse  and  walls  which  we  see  at  tiie  )iresent  time. 

The  situation  of  Lewes  Castle  on  the  summit  ot  a  steep  hill,  uji  and  around 
whicli  the  town  clusters,  is  a  most  commanding  one,  having  wide  views  over  the 
Downs  on  the  E.  and  W.,  with  an  e\en  more  extended  prospect  to  the  N.,  and 
over  what  is  now  the  fertile  meadow  land  in  the  S.  towards  Newhaven,  but  what 
then  was  an  arm  of  the  sea  covering  at  high  water  an  inunense  expanse  of  nuiddy 
waste.  A  better  position  for  defence  and  protection  could  not  have  been  selected, 
and  its  former  importance  is  thereby  strongly  indicated. 

The  castle  was  (.[uite  irregular  in  its  trace,  suiting  the  contours  of  the  hill  top, 
and  enclosing  within  the  walls  an  area  of  about  3I  acres.  These  were  defended 
on  the  N.  E.  and  S.  sides  by  a  ditch,  while  on  the  W.  a  very  steep  escarpment 
sloped  down  to  the  lands  below.  Within,  the  builders  found  two  large  mounds, 
the  foundations  douiitless  of  ancient  houses,  on  the  N.E.  and  S.W.,  and  on  these 
they  erected  two  keeps,  800  feet  .apart,  being  the  only  instance  of  double  keeps 
known.  On  the  former,  called  the  Bray  or  Breck  Mount,  w.is  the  chief  tower  oi- 
donjon,  formetl  of  a  cluster  of  octagonal  towers  set  round  a  centre  one,  on  a  plan 


8o 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


similar  to  tliat  of  the  keeps  of  Coningshur^fh  and  Castle  Acre,  both   of  which 
castles  belonj,'ed  to  the  first  Earl  Warren,  as  well  as  Lewes. 

This  tower  is  75  feet  in  diameter,  and  at  a  later  period  two  octagonal  towers 
were  added,  having  three  storeys  each,  which  remain,  and  have  of  late  years  been 
made  liabitable.  Traces  only  exist  of  the  second  keep  in  some  heaps  of  masonry, 
and  little  more  tlian  half  the  external  walls  may  now  be  seen,  but  no  vestiges 

remain  of  the  buildings  con- 
tained in  the  base  court.  In 
front  of  the  old  Norman  en- 
ti"ance,  in  the  S.  wall  of  the 
castle,  stands  the  barbican  or 
outer  gateway,  a  square  tower 
flanked  with  two  circular  angle 
towers,  having  a  spiral  stair  in 
the  N.W.  corner,  and  armed 
with  machicoulis  and  battle- 
ments that  have  been  partly 
renewed  ;  there  were  two  port- 
cullises and  a  drawbridge  here. 
The  date  of  these  buildings  is 
about  the  middle  of  the  thir- 
teenth century. 

When  during  the  Baron's 
War  in  1265,  before  the  battle 
of  Lewes,  King  Henry  III., 
proceeded  into  Sussex  after  the 
sack  of  Xi)rthamptnn,  the  Royal 
court  was  established  in  the 
great  priory  of  Cluniac  monks 
in  the  low  ground  outside  the 
LEvvES  town    of    Lewes,    while    Prince 

Edward  became  the  guest  of 
liis  kinsman,  Earl  Warren,  in  his  castle  there.  This  John,  seventh  Earl  Warren 
and  Surrey,  was  amongst  the  most  constant  of  the  King's  friends,  being  married 
to  his  half  sister  Alice,  and  although  nearlv  related  to  manv  of  the  more 
prominent  chiefs  arrayed  against  the  Royal  forces,  he  now  gave  the  King 
all  tlie  influence  derived  from  liis  wide  possessions  in  Sussex,  and  the  most 
important  support  of  his  strong  Castle  of  Lewes.  He  was  custodian  likewise 
of  Pevensey,  and  being  related  to  John  FitzAlan,  Lord  of  Arundel,  that 
chieftain's  presence  and  support  likewise  was  obtained,  together  with  that 
of  many  other  powerful  barons,  such  as  de  Bohun,  Earl  of  Hereford,  de 
Percy,    le    Bigot,    and    others,    whom    the    Warren    relationship   or    influence 


SUSSEX  8 1 

contiollcd.  After  tlic  li;ittlc,  tlie  victorious  barons  attacked  the  castle,  wliereon 
the-  roval  banners  were  still  flyiiifj,  in  order  to  rescue  some  of  their  friends 
made  prisoners  in  the  early  staj^es  of  the  light,  but  they  met  with  so  stout 
a  defence  from  the  Warren  garrison,  who  showered  darts  and  lire-balls  and 
Greek  fire  on  them,  that  they  were  obliged  to  draw  off,  and,  marching  to  the 
Priorv  of  St.  Pancras,  where  the  King  and  Prince  were,  they  set  the  buildings 
on  fire,  after  which  a  truce  was  arranged.  P'rom  the  death  of  the  last  Earl 
VVarren  and  Surrey,  in  1347,  to  the  Reformation  there  is  little  to  record  at 
Lewes.  When  the  earl's  large  possessions  passed  to  the  hands  of  Richard  P'itz- 
Alaii,  Earl  of  Arundel,  the  Castle  of  Lewes,  after  enjoying  300  years  of  feudal 
splendour,  ceased  to  be  inhabited  by  its  owner  and  the  old  pile  was  neglected 
and  suffered  to  moulder  away  piecemeal,  while  the  loss  of  the  large  expenditure  by 
the  old  lords  on  the  town  so  impoverished  the  people,  that  the  borough  declined 
in  prosperitv.  The  walls  were  then  neglected  and  all  fell  into  ruin ,  which  is 
the  stoiy  of  the  decay  of  many  a  medi;eval  town. 

PEVKXSEY  {chief) 

THE  Civitas  Anderida  of  the  Romans,  occupies  the  site  of  a  Roman  camp  of 
that  name,  the  shape  of  which  differed  from  the  usual  trace  of  a 
parallelogram,  inasmuch  as  these  walls  form  an  oval,  with  a  periphery  of  half  a 
mile,  adapted  to  the  configuration  of  the  \)o\ui  of  the  coast  chosen  for  the  settle- 
ment. Pevensey  has  been  determined  to  be  the  spot  where  the  landing  of  Julius 
Caesar  took  place,  at  which  time  the  sea  washed  the  foot  of  the  low  cliff  where  he 
formed  his  camp,  and  which  afforded,  on  the  E.  side,  a  convenient  haven  for  his 
ships.  On  the  exodus  of  t]ie  Roman  legions  in  the  liflh  century,  their  comfortable 
and  safe  quarters  were  appropriated  by  the  British  tribes,  who  formed  a  colony 
there,  for  in  A.D.  477  the  South  Saxons,  under  Ella,  attacked  Anderida  and 
massacred  all  they  found  there. 

Thither,  in  1066,  came  Duke  William  of  Normandy,  crossing  from  St.  Valery 
with  his  huge  fiotilla  of  907  great  ships,  besides  smaller  craft,  which  he  had 
gradually  built  and  collected  in  the  harbour  then  existing  at  the  mouth  of  the 
small  river  Dives,  between  Trouville  and  Caen  on  the  Normandy  coast.  After  a 
long  delay  here,  waiting  for  a  change  of  adverse  winds,  he  sailed  along  the  coast 
of  France  to  St.  Valery,  from  which  haven  he  crossed  over  direct  to  Pevensey. 
On  stepping  ashore,  the  chroniclers  relate  how  William  stumbled  and  fell,  but  put 
aside  the  omen  by  saying,  "Thus  I  take  possession  of  the  land  with  both  my 
hands." 

The  level  of  the  land  has  risen  since  that  time,  as  it  has  at  Dives,  where 
the  harbour  no  longer  remains,  and  the  sea  has  receded,  so  that  where  existed 
tidal  waters  and  muddy  flats  then  are  marsh  lands  and  fertile  pastures  now. 

In   the   Bayeux  tapestry  is  depicted   the   landing  of  the  Noiman  cavalry  and 
vol..   I.  L 


82 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


their  march,  headed  by  the  duke,  round  the  inland  coast,  to  Hastings,  a 
distance  of  about  twenty  miles.  To  protect  the  shipping  left  in  this  haven, 
there  was  erected,  probably  within  the  Roman  camp,  one  of  the  three  wooden 
blockhouses  brought  from  Xormandy,  the  rest  of  the  fleet  proceding  to  the 
harbour  at  Hastings. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  ancient  encircling  wall  of  the  Romans  still  exists,  as 
perfect  as  in  the  days  of  Constantine,  being  built  of  flint  rubble,  upon  a  foundation 
of  piles,  with  a  thickness  of  4  yards,  and  a  height  of  from  25  to  30  feet  on  the  out- 
side, enclosing  an  area  of  8i  acres.     At  intervals  apart  are  fifteen  massive  flanking 


towers,  two  of  which  at  the  W.  end  defended  the  entrance,  and  some  of  these 
retain  their  Norman  superstructure. 

The  Conqueror  bestowed  the  Rape  of  Pevensey  upon  his  half-brother  Robert, 
Earl  of  Mortain,  or  Moreton,  whom  he  further  enriched  with  558  manors  in 
various  counties,  and  280  in  Cornwall,  together  with  the  dignity  of  the  earldom  of 
Cornwall  {see  Launceston,  &c.)  ;  it  is  probable  that  this  Earl  Robert  repaired 
and  added  to  the  then  existing  fortifications,  and  also  erected  a  Norman  castle  on 
the  eminence  at  the  E.  end  of  the  enclosure,  where  are  now  the  magnificent  ruins 
of  the  later  Edwardian  castle,  which  forms,  as  it  were,  the  keep  or  stronghold  of 
the  exterior  fortification.  This  earl  was  succeeded  bv  his  son  William,  who 
espoused  the  cause  of  Duke  Robert  against  his  younger  brother,  the  Red  King, 
and  whose  property  was  consequently  confiscated  after  the  siege  in  1088. 

Pevensey  in  these  early  days  was  of  much  importance  in  regard  to  com- 
munications with  Normandy,  and  it  was  held  successfully  by  Bishop  Odo  of 
Bayeux,  another  half-brother  of  William  I.,  for  six  weeks  against  Rufus,  in  1088, 
Odo  having  thrown  himself  into  this  fortress  in  the  expectation  of  receiving  here 


lotke 


fSanlini 


uiuitse 


■tfodier  Robert, 


;5$  manors  in      !| 

-' :  ini  of 
.rjirtd 


:it:  on 


nuns 


jtrongtioldof 

ttlllani,  who 
the  Red  King, 


<wd  to  com- 
shopOiioof 


UtUJ, 


am 


ecer 


ivinghere 


SUSSEX 


83 


his  nephew,  Duke  Robert,  and  a  strong  reinforcement  from  Normandy.  He 
was  obhged  to  surrender,  and  was  allowed  to  depart  on  the  promise  of  obtaining 
the  cession  of  his  castle  of  Rochester  to  the  Red  King,  a  promise  which  he  at  once 
broke  bv  holding  that  Kentish  stronghold  against  the  King,  which  was,  however, 
taken  after  a  siege,  when  the  perjured  bishop  was  banished  the  realm.     Soon  after 


i'LVL.\i>L\ 


when  Duke  l\i)liert  did  arrive  with  a  Norman  force,   he  was  beaten  otif  in   an 
attempt  to  land  at  Pevensey. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  Pevensey  was  conferred  on  Count  Gilbert  d'.Atiuila, 
whose  son  lost  it  in  1127  by  rebellion  against  the  same  King.  From  this  family 
the  title  of  the  Honour  of  the  Eagle  was  applied  to  these  lands.  During  the 
despeiatc  civil  war  between  the  Empress  Maud  and  her  cousin  Stephen,  the  castle 
was  besieged  by  that  King  in  person,  when  it  was  defended  by  Gilbert,  Eail  of 
Clare,  and  was  reduced  only  by  famine;  the  young  King  Henry  11.  afterwards 
restored  the  place  to  the  Aquila  family.  In  1235  Henry  111.  granted  Pevensey  to 
the  great  Earl  Marshal,  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  but  it  was  afterwards  resumed 
by  the  Crown  and  given  in  1241  to  the  Queen's  uncle,  Peter  of  Savoy.  Hither,  in 
1265,  after  their  defeat  at  Lewes,  fled  many  of  the  Royalist  fugitives  thai  very 
night,  embarking  there  for  France  to  convey  the  news  of  the  disaster  to  Queen 
Eleanor.     Soon    afterwards    the    castle    was    besieged    by  Simon   de    Montfort, 


8^  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

junior,  but  on  the  escape  of  Prince  Edward  from  Hereford  (q.r.)  the  siege  was 
raised  after  it  had  lasted  nearly  three  months. 

Pevensey  was  granted  to  Prince  Edward  in  1269,  and  it  remained  in  the 
hands  of  the  Crown  until  the  fourteenth  century  ;  then  it  was  found  to  be  in  a 
ruinous  condition,  and  having  received  repairs  in  1309,  was  afterwards  settled 
by  Edward  III.  on  his  fourth  son,  John  of  Gaunt,  who  appointed  the  family  of 
Pelhani  to  be  constables  of  the  fortress. 

In  1399,  on  the  rising  against  Richard  II.,  Sir  John  Pelham,  a  staunch 
adherent  of  Bolingbroke,  was  custodian,  but,  being  absent  when  this  castle  was 
attacked  by  the  King's  forces,  his  wife.  Lady  Jane  Pelham,  conducted  the  defence 
with  such  determination  and  gallantry  that  the  assailants  were  forced  to  retire. 
An  interesting  letter  from  her  to  her  husband  at  the  time  is  e.xtant,  showing  her 
difficulties  and  distress. 

The  fortress  had  fallen  into  a  bad  state  of  decay  at  the  time  of  the  alarm 
regarding  the  Spanish  Armada,  when  it  was  decided  to  demolish  the  castle  ;  but 
this  was  not  acted  on,  and  there  is  a  gun,  still  lying  in  the  outer  ward,  on  which 
are  the  letters  E.  R.,  with  a  Tudor  rose  and  crown,  which  was  sent  there  at  this 
time  (1587). 

The  Crown  held  Pevensey  until  William  III.  bestowed  it  on  the  Bentincks, 
who,  in  1730,  sold  it  to  Spenser  Compton,  Earl  of  Wilmington,  from  which 
family  it  passed,  in  1782,  by  the  marriage  of  his  granddaughter,  to  Lord  George 
Cavendish,  and  it  remains  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire. 

On  entering  the  great  Roman  fortification,  or  castrum,  either  at  the  Westham 
end  on  the  W.,  or  at  the  small  village  of  Pevensey  at  the  E.,  the  most  remarkable 
feature  is  the  great  Edwardian  castle,  which  occupies  the  site  of  the  Norman  one 
on  the  elevated  mound  in  the  S.E.  corner,  and  extends  around  it,  of  which 
original  castle  little  is  known.  This  inner  castle  is  supposed  to  have  been  erected 
at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century,  or  early  in  the  succeeding  one,  the  towers 
being  ascribed  to  Edward  II.  (cir.  1309).  The  walls  of  it,  forming  a  sort  of 
pentagon,  enclose  an  area  of  about  ih  acres,  and  were  protected  by  a  broad  moat 
externally,  which  partly  exists  now.  Each  of  the  angles  is  formed  with  a  large 
drum  lower,  three  storeys  high,  with  a  lofty,  massive  curtain-w.dl  between  them  ; 
the  entrance  gateway  faces  the  W.,  and  was  flanked  by  two  semi-circular  fronted 
towers,  of  which  only  that  on  the  N.  side  remains.  The  vaulted  entrance  passage, 
with  its  iiiciirtnerc  opening  above,  and  portcullis  groove,  is  tolerably  perfect,  and 
was  35  feet  long  ;  the  masonry  of  the  drawbridge  in  front  remains.  The  angle 
towers  arc  about  30  feet  in  diameter,  rising  from  the  moat ;  they  have  a  dark  base- 
ment, once  vaulted,  and  two  rooms  above,  formed  by  timber  floors.  Against  the 
curtain  on  the  N.  seems  to  have  been  a  hall,  and  of  late  years  excavations  have 
shown  here  the  site  of  the  Norman  chapel,  of  which  the  font  is  preserved.  The 
two  extremities  of  this  mediaeval  castle  were  worked  into  the  Roman  enceinte 
wall,  which  in  this  way  formed  the  E.  wall  of  the  inner  stronghold,  and  served  to 


SUSSEX  85 

support  the  iiiouiid,  tliiown  up  doubtless  in  earlier  times,  and  upon  wliich  was 
built  the  keep  tower  <jf  the  later  castle.  Tiiis  feature  lias,  however,  perished, 
together  with  much  (if  the  buildings  near  it,  of  which  there  remain  large 
fragments  on  the  slope,  shattered  evidently  by  gunpowder.  There  is  a  postern 
here  carried  through  the  Roman  wall.  The  castle  well  has  been  found  at  tiie  foot 
of  the  mound. 

Pevensey  after  the  thirteenth  century  was  chiefly  employed  as  a  State  prison  ; 
and  among  notable  prisoners  conlined  here  was  Edward,  Duke  of  York,  cousin- 
german  to  King  Henry  IV.  He  had  joined  in  a  plot  to  release  from  their 
captivity  the  two  j'oung  Mortimer  boys,  who,  as  next  heirs  to  the  Crown,  Henry 
guarded  witii  nuicii  vigilance  in  Windsor  Castle.  The  escaped  prisoners  were 
overtaken  and  brougiit  back,  and  York  was  sent  to  Pevensey  and  confined  there 
for  several  months.  This  was  in  1405,  at  which  time  much  of  the  inner  castle 
was  ill  ruins,  the  haven  was  choked  with  sand  and  mud,  and  the  whole  of  the  flats 
as  far  as  Beachiff  (Beachy  Head)  was  constantly  under  water  (Wylie). 

In  1414  the  castle  received  the  youthful  King  James  1.  of  Scotland,  whom 
Henry  had  treacherously  seized  when  on  his  way  in  a  ship  to  France,  and  wlio 
was  kept  in  captivity  for  eighteen  years,  partly  at  Windsor  and  partly  here.  After 
the  death  of  Henry  1\'.  his  second  Queen,  Joan  (jf  Navarre,  was,  in  1419,  sent  a 
prisoner  here  on  the  charge  of  practising  witchcraft  against  the  life  of  her  stepson 
Henry  V. ;  she  was  only  released  at  the  death  of  the  King  after  nine  years  close 
confinement. 

There  was  a  constable  of  Pevensey  as  late  as  1553,  and  a  survey  of  the  castle 
was  hekl  at  tlie  end  of  that  century.  In  1650  the  commission  on  castles  st)ld  the 
materials  of  it  for  ^'40,  but  demolition  did  not  follow  this  act,  for  the  chief 
destruction  has  been  wrought  during  the  last  century,  when  the  ruins  were  used 
as  a  quarrv,  until  the  last  fifty  years  or  so,  since  whicii  time  they  have  been 
carefully  tended  and  prescrvetl. 

SCOTXEY  {minor) 

A  MILE  from  Lamberhurst,  is  on  Sussex  soil,  but  the  little  river  Bewl,  or 
Beaul,  which  here  forms  the  march  between  the  two  counties,  supplies  the 
moat  encircling  the  castle,  and  in  consequence  this  is  sometimes  claimed  by  Kent. 
Thi>  moat  is  more  like  a  small  lake,  whicii,  after  the  manner  of  Leeds  Castle  in 
Kent,  contains  two  islands  upon  which  tiie  fortihed  dwellings  were  erected  ;  but 
the  water  protection  was  sought  more  against  the  sudden  attacks  of  marauders 
than  as  a  defence  in  a  regular  siege,  since,  from  the  moat  being  at  a  higher 
level  than  the  river  (lowing  on  the  other  side  of  its  embankment,  it  could  be 
drained  by  an  enemy,  without  exposure  on  his  part.  This  is  also  the  case  at 
Bodiam.  Scotney  was  a  small  stronghold,  of  which  one  only  of  the  four  corner 
towers  of  its  outer  walls  remains,  having  heavy  machicolations ;  this,  with  the 


86  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

waters  of  its  hike,  forms  a  highly  picturesque  object.  The  name  seems  to  have 
been  derived  from  a  place  in  France,  in  the  Seine  Inferieur,  near  Foucarmont, 
called  Escotignv,  from  whence  came  the  barons  Scoteni  who  possessed  this  castle 

in  the  twelfth  century. 

Lambert  de  Scoteny  held  the  castle  1168-1195,  whose  grandson  (probably) 
Walter  de  Scoteny,  was  possessor  (temp.  Henry  111.),  and  was  executed  at 
Winchester  in  1259  for  complicity  in  a  crime  of  which  he  was  possibly  innocent. 

In  the  precedhig  year,  the  growing  party  of  the  barons  had  succeeded  in 
obtaining  orders  of  exile  against  the  unpopular  family  of  de  Valence,  half  brothers 


^     '     "ti  iWy^' 


tt)  King  Henry,  namely  William  de  Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  his  three 
brothers.  Before,  however,  they  could  leave  the  country  as  ordained,  a  great 
banquet  was  given  by  Aymer  de  Valence,  Bishop  of  W'inchester,  at  which  several 
of  the  guests,  including  Richard  de  Clare,  the  great  Earl  of  Gloucester,  and  his 
brother  William,  were  taken  ill  with  symptoms  of  poison.  (Blaauw.)  William  de 
Clare  and  the  Abbot  of  W^estminster  died,  and  the  Earl  himself,  under  the  care  of 
his  physician,  a  Dominican  monk,  only  escaped  after  a  tedious  illness,  with  loss 
of  his  hair,  nails,  and  teeth,  and  his  skin  peeling  away.  Suspicion  of  foul 
play  at  once  arose,  when  Walter  de  Scotney,  who  was  chief  counsellor  and 
steward  to  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  was  charged  with  having  administered  poison 
to  him  and  the  others.  It  was  believed  that  he  had  been  induced  to  act  thus 
from  the  oiTer  of  a  large  sum  by  William  de  Valence  in  revenge  for  the  exile.  He 
denied  the  crime,  and  submitting  to  be  tried  at  Winchester,  was  brought  there, 
found  guilty,  and  after  a  few  months,  in  spite  of  his  protest  of  innocence,  was 
hanged  there.  He  possessed  manors  in  Hampshire  also,  and  was  perhaps  a 
lawyer.  He  was  allowed,  notwithstanding  the  forfeiture  which  followed  his 
condemnation,   to   leave   Scotney  to   his   family,  who    had   also   the   manor   of 


SUSSEX  87 

Scotiiey  in  Lydd.  In  the  middle  (il  the  reign  of  Edward  111.  tiiis  property 
passed  to  the  Ashburnhams  (de  Esbiirnham)  of  Sussex,  when  Roger  de 
Esburiiham  lived  there  and  in  i  Richard  II.  crenellated  the  mansion — seeninigly 
without  a  licence,  since  none  appears  in  his  favour  in  the  Patent  Rolls.  His 
successor  (temp.  Henry  V.),  alienated  Scotney  to  Henry  Chichele,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  who  lived  here  at  times,  and  in  1418  settled  tlie  place  on  his  niece, 
Florence,  the  widow  of  Sir  William  Peche,  on  her  marriage  with  John  Darell,  of 
Cale  Hill  in  Kent,  who  was  of  a  Yorkshire  family  of  that  name ;  in  his 
family  it  remained  many  years,  until  the  reign  of  Edward  V'l.  (Hasted.)  In  1774 
the  property  was  sold  to  John  Richards,  of  Robertsbridge,  from  whom  it  was 
purchased  by  Edward  Hussey,  grandfather  of  Mr.  Edward  Hussey,  the  present 
owner. 

The  ancient  structure,  including  three  of  the  corner  towers,  w;us  pulled  down 
in  order  to  build  a  new  house  called  Court  Lodge,  in  the  same  parish.  The  later 
buildings,  now  partially  ruined,  lieicjng  to  a  house  built  by  Inigo  Jones  for  the 
Darells. 

Entrance  was  originally  gained  frcjm  the  mainland  by  a  drawbridge  across  the 
moat  on  the  \.  of  the  first  island,  from  whence  a  second,  defended,  bridge  led 
into  the  enceinte  of  the  second  island,  which  was  an  enclosure  of  rectangular 
form,  the  retaining  walls  rising  out  of  the  waters  of  the  lake,  and  having  a  circular 
tower  at  each  of  the  four  corners,  dating  from  i  Rich;ucl  II.  (1377).  The  site  of 
the  original  castle,  of  which  tliere  are  no  remains,  is  on  the  X.  side  of  this  island. 

In  days  when  the  evasion  (jf  the  excise  laws  formed  the  occupation  of  many  a 
gentleman  of  Kent,  as  cattle-lifting  once  did  among  the  same  class  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  the  Darell  family  were  noted  smugglers,  and  their  deeds 
and  fights  with  the  representatives  of  law  were  long  remembered  in  those  parts. 
A  story  about  these  is  given  in  one  of  James's  novels,  called  "  The  Smuggler,"  and 
recounts  a  celebrated  contest  by  a  gang  of  these  desperadoes  at  the  siege  of 
Goudhurst  Church,  upon  the  neighbouring  hill  in  Kent. 

There  is  an  episode  connected  with  the  old  house  which  exemplifies  the 
severity  of  the  penal  laws  in  force  against  Catholics  during  the  latter  years  of 
Elizabeth.  In  the  winter  of  the  year  1598,  information  having  been  given  that 
one  Father  Blount,  a  priest,  was  harboured  in  Scotney  Castle,  the  family  living 
there  were  surprised  in  their  beds  by  the  arrival  of  three  justices  of  the  peace  with 
their  retinue  to  apprehend  him  ;  the  priest  had  barely  time  to  rush  from  his  bed 
and  secrete  himself,  together  with  his  man  Bray,  in  one  of  the  hidden  chambers, 
or  priests'  holes,  which  existed  here  as  in  many  old  mansions  of  that  date.  He  had 
with  him  only  a  little  bottle  of  wine  and  a  small  loaf,  and  no  clothes  but  his 
breeches  and  a  cassock,  and  thus  they  remained  shut  up  for  ten  days,  whilst  the 
autlujrities,  having  first  sent  off  the  owner,  William  Darell,  to  London,  instituted, 
with  the  aid  of  masons  and  carpenters,  a  close  search  throughout  the  premises, 
which  were  also  carefully  watched.     At  last,  through  some  indiscretion  of  the  lady 


88 


CASTLKS   OF   ENGLAND 


of  the  house,  a  clue  was  obtained  lo  the  hiding-place,  and  a  further  search  ordered 
for  the  next  day,  overhearing  the  intention  of  which  Father  Blount  determined  to 
escape.  He  and  his  man  accordingly  left  that  night,  and  managing  unobserved 
to  scale  three  walls,  climbed  into  one  of  the  corner  towers  standing  i6  feet 
above  the  moat,  at  a  place  wliere  it  was  80  feet  wide.  From  this  height  the  priest 
leaped  into  the  watei-  and  managed  to  swim  through  a  thin  coating  of  ice  to  the 
other  side ;  he  had  intended  to  return  and  help  his  man  across,  who  could  not 
swim,  but  was  too  weak  and  fatigued  to  do  so,  and  was  only  able  to  crawl  to  the 
house  of  a  Catholic  servant  of  the"  Darells,  whence,  being  joined  by  Bray, 
who  also  had  escaped  by  means  of  a  ruse,  the  two  finally  got  away  into 
safety. 


SEDGWICK   {mi,! or) 

TWO  and  a  half  miles  E.  from  Horsham  was  one  of  the  minor  castellated 
buildings,  intended  for  occasional  resort.  It  was  an  entirely  independent 
castle,  belonging  for  two  and  a  half  centuries  after  the  Conquest  to  a  Norman 
family  of  the  peculiar  and  somewhat  opprobrious  name  of  le  Salvage,  or  Sauvage — 
"the  Savage."     Robert  le  Salvage  possessed  lands  of  his  own,  and  others  he  held 

imder  the  Braoses  of  Bramber,  to  which 
family  it  seems,  from  the  similarity  of 
their  arms,  he  was  related,  and  most  of 
his  successors  were  called  Robert.     The 


:^\^cll} 


onlv  child  of  the  fifth  Robert  le  Salvage 


SEDGWICK. 


was  Hawina,  who  brought  Sedgwick  to 
her  husband,  John  de  Gaddesden,  and 
cliecl  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  111.  The  lands  seem  to  have 
continued  in  the  family  of  le  Salvage  till 
1272,  when  John  le  Salvage  exchanged 
them  with  William  de  Braose  for  other 
lands,  and  the  manor  passed  to  his  son 
William,  who,  dying  in  1326  s.p.  male, 
the  Braose  lands  were  divided,  Sedgwick  passing  through  the  hands  of  several 
families,  until  they  came  to  the  De  Mowbrays  by  the  marriage  of  Aliva  de  Braose 
with  John  de  Mowbray,  and  continued  with  them  and  the  Howards  till  the 
attainder  of  Thomas,  fourth  Duke  of  Norfolk,  in  1572,  when  they  were  granted  to 
Sir  Thomas  Seymour.  He  was  attainted  two  years  later,  when  Sedgwick  was 
conferred  on  Sir  Thomas  Fynes,  and  then  it  passed  to  the  Caryls,  of  Shipley  and 
Ladyholt,  who  held  it  under  the  Crown  till  1705.  It  was  then  purchased  by  Sir 
Thomas  Bennet,  Kt.,  who,  after  improving  the  property,  sold  it  to  Charles,  Duke 
of  Richmond,  at  whose  death,  in  1750,  it  was  bought  by  Mr.  Joseph  Tudor.     He, 


SUSSEX  89 

dyiiif^  ill  iji^f),  hcqiieathed  Sedf^wick  to  liis  iitphew,  William  Nelthorpe,  whose 
nephew,  J.  Tudor  Xcllhoipe,  is  the  present  possessor. 

It  cannot  be  known  when  the  castle  was  allowed  to  fall  into  decay ;  perhaps  in 
Braose  davs,  as  that  family  possessed  many  residences. 

The  form  of  the  castle  was  circular,  the  walls  beinj^  surrounded  by  two  moats, 
and  rising  directly  from  the  edge  of  the  inner  one,  which  is  200  yards  in  extent. 
These  walls  remain  to  a  height  of  4  or  5  feet  from  the  bottom  of  tlie  moat  in  a 
tolerably  perfect  state,  except  on  the  E.  side,  where  the  stones  have  been  taken 
away  for  mending  the  roads.  Thirty  yards  beyond  the  outer  moat  is  a  line  basin 
of  masonrv,  called  "the  Xiin's  Well,"  winch  supplied  water  to  the  castle,  on  the 
X.W.  of  which  is  an  outlet  to  the  road  leading  to  this  well.  The  S.E.  approach 
to  the  castle  still  remains.  Dallaway  says  that  the  foundations  are  traceable 
everywhere,  and  some  of  the  apartments  can  be  made  out,  especially  one  of 
hexagonal  shajie. 

Twice  in  the  Patent  Rolls  occurs  the  entry  that  in  1259  (46  Henry  III.), 
Johannes  Mannsell,  Thesaurarius  Ebor  had  a  licence  to  crenellate  his  house  of 
Seggewik,  Sussex.  This  was  John  Mansell,  originally  the  chaplain  of  Henry  111., 
who,  from  his  wealth  and  splendour  and  his  political  importance,  was  called  in 
later  times  the  Wolsey  of  the  thirteenth  century.  The  King  loaded  him  with  gifts 
of  lands  and  castles  and  church  benefices,  and,  amongst  other  places,  appears  to 
have  conferred  le  Sauvage's  castle  of  Sedgwick  on  this  fortunate  churchman. 
After  Mansell's  death,  Sedgwick  was  granted  to  Simon  de  Montfort,  but  after  his 
slaughter  at  Evesham,  this  castle  was  claimed  again  by  Joim  de  Sauvage. 
(Blaauw,  96.) 

VERDLEY   (>,o„-cx/stail) 

THIS  ruMi  consists  now  of  the  small  remains  of  a  Liuadr.mgular  building, 
situated  in  a  deep  vale,  four  miles  from  Cowdray,  wliere  once  existed  a  large 
range  of  forest  land,  in  the  depths  of  which  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  it  was 
barely  discoverable.  A  writer  of  that  date  savs  :  "There  is  no  mention  of  the 
castle  in  any  author,  and  it  is  only  known  to  such  as  hunt  the  martin  cat." 

It  was  in  all  probabilitv,  like  Cnap  or  Knepp  Castle  and  Hartheld,  built 
originally  as  a  hunting-seat  of  the  manor,  in  this  case  by  the  Bohuns,  lords  of  the 
Manor  of  Eseborne,  wherein  the  castle  was  situated.  In  Gough's  time  there 
remained  only  a  portion  of  the  wall  of  the  principal  tower,  having  arched  openings 
in  the  style  of  1 240-1 280,  partly  surrounded  by  a  moat. 

In  1541  it  belonged  to  the  King,  but  it  was  given  by  Edward  \'l.  to  Sir  .Antliony 
Browne,  and  it  has  since  passed  to  the  Cowdrav  estate. 

The  remains  now  are  but  trifling,  as  some  vears  ago  the  stones  of  the  ruin  were 
employed  for  repairing  the  roads,  as  has  frequently  been  the  case  with  many  .in 
interesting  relic  (jf  past  ages. 

VOL.   I.  M 


90  CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 

YPRES    TOWER  {minor) 

Tl  1  IS  IS  ;i  noble  and  lofty  tower  standing  at  the  S.E.  angle  of  the  town  walls  of 
Rye,  and  adjoining  one  of  tlic  old  gates  of  the  town.  It  was  hiiilt  hv 
William  d'Ypix-s,  a  Norman  Earl  of  Kent,  and  so  obtained  his  name.  In  1245  it 
is  mentioned  as  "Rye  Castle."  A  drawing  of  the  old  structure,  taken  in  1784, 
siiows  a  tall  square  building  with  high  round  towers  at  the  angles,  one  of  tliem, 
which  contains  a  spiral  staircase,  overtopping  the  others.  The  building  formed 
perhaps  a  guaid-house  and  watch-tower  on  the  old  walls  of  Rye,  at  a  period  when 
the  sea  flowed  close  beneath  them,  or  if  built  before  the  town  was  walled,  it 
was  sufficient  to  shelter  garrison  from  marauders.  The  common  name  was 
"  Wipers  Tower."  William  d'Ypres  was  captain  of  mercenaries  to  King- 
Stephen. 


KAKNHAM 


Surrey 


B  L  E  T  C  H I X  G  L  E  Y  (,wn-cxistc,ii) 

THIS  castle  stood  at  the  \V.  extremity  of  tlie  town,  where  now  is  a  wood, 
upon  the  hold  brow  of  a  hill  commanding  extensive  views  over 
Hoimsdale.  It  is  said  to  have  been  a  stately  fortress,  and  pleasantly 
situated. 
The  manor  at  Domesday  was  in  the  possession  of  Richard  de  Tonbridge,  one 
of  the  Norman  warriors  who  came  to  the  conquest  of  England  with  Duke 
William,  whose  half-brother  he  was,  being  born  of  Arlotte,  the  same  mother,  as 
the  Conqueror.  He  was  the  son  of  (iilbert  Crispin,  Earl  of  Brionne,  the  son  of 
Jeffrey,  natural  son  of  Richard,  hrst  Duke  of  Normandy,  the  great-grandfather  of 
Duke  William  ;  hence  they  were  also  second  cousins.  His  usual  name  was 
Richard  FitzGilbert,  and  he  had  from  his  brother  twenty-foui  manors  in  Surrey. 
He  was  killed  in  Wales  about  logo.  This  K'ichard  was  made  Earl  of  Clare,  and 
his  descendants  retained  their  property  for  nine  generations.  He  is  the  reputed 
founder  of  Bletchingley  Castle,  the  original  fabric  of  which  had  not  a  long 
existence,  for  the  revolt  of  Gilbert,  the  Red  Earl  (icc  ToNHKlDGl-:,  Kent),  who 
fought  against   Henrv  111.  at  the  battle   of    Lewes,  brought   about   its  demolition. 


92  CASTLES   OF   P:NGLAND 

The  kiiijj's  troops  quartered  in  Tonbridge,  hearing  of  the  Royalist  defeat  there, 
sallied  out  to  attack  the  Londoners,  who,  having  been  dispersed  early  in  the  day  by 
Prince  Edward,  were  collecting  their  shattered  forces  at  Croydon  ;  on  their  way 
thither,  these  King's  troops  took  Bletchingley,  and  destroyed  it,  probably  as  far  as 
fire  would  burn. 

In  later  times  this  same  Red  Earl,  marrying  Joan  d'Acre,  the  daughter  of 
Edward  I.,  had  to  surrender  all  his  castles  and  manors  to  that  King,  receiving 
them  back  again.  This  manor  aftcrwaids  followed  the  fortunes  of  Tonbridge 
and  Clare  {(].>:),  until  it  became  forfeit  to  the  Crown  in  1521  by  the  execution  of 
Edward,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  under  Henry  VIII.,  who,  in  1523,  granted  it  to 
Sir  Nicholas  Carew,  of  Beddington,  Surrey,  his  Master  of  the  Horse,  and  K.G. 
Sir  Nicholas  was  charged  in  1539,  together  with  the  Marquess  of  Exeter  and 
others,  with  conspiring  to  place  Cardinal  Pole  upon  the  throne,  and  was  beheaded 
in  March  of  that  vear,  when  Bletchingley  fell  to  the  Crown  again.  Two  years 
after,  Henrv  settled  it  on  Anne  of  Cleves  for  her  life,  and  she  lived  at  the  manor 
house  of  the  propertv.  At  her  death,  the  estate  went  to  Sir  Thomas  Car- 
wardes,  an  ol^cial  in  high  favour  with  the  king,  who,  in  1560,  sold  it  to  William, 
Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  the  Lord  High  Admiral,  whose  granddaughter,  the 
beautiful  Elizabeth  Howard,  brought  Bletchingley  in  marriage  to  fohn.  Lord 
Mordaunt,  created  Earl  of  Peterborough  in  1628.  She  was  a  hot  Parliamentarian, 
and  her  son,  the  second  Earl,  a  strong  Royalist;  but  he  had,  in  exile  and  poverty, 
to  pull  down  the  manor-house  and  sell  the  estate,  whereupon  Bletchingley,  in 
1677,  went  to  Sir  Robert  Clayton,  whose  descendant  sold  the  reversion  of  the 
manor  to  a  relative,  John  Kenrick,  whose  family  resold  it.  In  1835  it  came  to  the 
Perkins  family,  and  it  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Norris. 

In  1673  Aubrey  saw  a  piece  of  the  old  castle  wall,  which  had  been  pulled 
down  during  the  Barons'  War  ;  it  stood  upon  an  eminence,  but  at  the  present 
day  nothing  is  to  be  traced  but  foundations.  The  lines  of  both  the  inner  and 
outer  moats  can  be  seen  very  clearly,  and  a  part  of  the  walls  has  been  exposed  by 
<^l'&y''''t5f  ■^^■'tli  the  foundations  of  a  tower.  The  castle  is  said  to  have  been  rebuilt 
after  the  battle  of  Lewes,  but  there  exists  no  record  to  tell  when  it  was  deserted 
or  pulled  down,  oi-  when  separated  from  the  manor. 

An  old  drawing  shows  the  plan  of  the  moats  to  have  been  somewhat  in  the 
form  of  the  letter  A,  having  two  sides  inclining  together,  the  keep  standing  m 
the  small  enclosure  with  other  buildings. 

B  L  ET C  H W O  RT  H  {uo„-cx,s(en() 

Ar  a  nule  E.  of  the  village  of  Bletchworth,  on  the  E.  of  Reigate,  upon  a  high 
bank  over  the  river  Mole,  is  the  site  of  this  castle,  at  lirst  the  possession  of 
Richard  de  Tonbridge,  as  Bletchingley  ((/.?'.),  and  afterwards  of  the  Earls  of 
Arundel.     In    1377   John    FitzAlan,  second   son   of    Richard,  Earl    of   Arundel, 


SURREY  93 

siicceedcd  to  this  propcitv,  and  li;id  a  licence-  to  crciicllatc  liis  manor-liouse 
liere.  Having  married  Eleanor,  co-licir  of  Joliii,  I.ord  Maltravers,  he  was 
created  Lord  Maltravers  in  liis  wife's  rij^ht,  and  became  Earl  Marshal  of  England 
in  the  reij^n  of  Richard  II.;  he  died  1 379,  and  after  his  son's  death  this  estate 
seem^  to  have  passed,  hv  a  daii^^hter  of  his  j^randson,  Sir  Tiiomas  of  Beechwood, 
to  her  husband,  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  k'lit.,  who  was  treasurer  of  the  household 
to  Henry  VI.  (Burke's  "  E.xtinct  Feeraj^e.")  Browne  had  a  licence,  in  1449,  further 
to  embattle  the  place,  and  had  a  park  and  free  warren,  and  his  family  continued  here 
for  over  250  years,  till  1690,  when,  by  the  dau^^hter  of  Sir  Adam  Browne,  Bart. 
(creation  1627),  the  castle  and  manor  went  in  marriaj^e  to  one  William  Fenwick, 
who  pulled  down  the  greater  part  of  the  castle,  and  turned  the  remainder  into  an 
ordinary  dwelling-house.  His  widow  sold  the  estate  to  Abraham  Tucker,  after 
whom  it  went  to  various  owners. 

In  i860  Henry  T.  Hope,  of  Deepdene,  acquired  it  by  purchase,  and  annexed 
it  to  his  estate,  dismantling  the  old  house,  then  much  out  of  repair.  Little 
remains  now  of  the  Kenwicks'  dwelling,  and  nothing  whatever  of  the  ancient 
castle.  A  magnilicent  double  avenue  of  limes,  300  yards  long,  leads  up  the  hill 
to  the  ruin. 


FARXHAM   {chief) 

SrrKKLKV  shows  Farnham  to  be  the  koman  station  of  Calleva  Atrcbatum 
standing  on  the  military  road  which  ran  from  London  through  Staines, 
Farnham,  and  Alton  to  Winchester,  and  so  on  to  the  West.  It  accordingly 
became  a  post  of  importance  from  earliest  times,  commanding  as  it  did  this  main 
road  lo  tile  most  civilised  pails  of  tlie  kingdom,  and  occnpying  a  strong  position 
on  an  eminence. 

Nothing  is  recorded  of  anv  Saxon  fortress  here,  but  in  Norman  times  the 
castle  we  know  of  was  founded  by  Henry  of  Blois,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  the 
brother  of  King  Stephen,  in  113S,  and  the  existing  structure  is  still  the  palace  of 
his  successors  in  that  See.  But  it  was  not  till  the  year  1216  that  anything 
memorable  occurred  here  :  then  the  barons,  in  despair  with  their  infamous  King, 
had  offered  the  throne  to  the  P'rench  King  and  invited  the  Dauphin,  with  a 
considerable  armv,  to  invade  England.  He  came  in  June  ol  that  year  hrsl  to 
Guildford  Castle,  and  thence  at  once  proceeded  to  Farnham,  which  castle  he  took 
possession  of. 

In  the  Barons'  War  of  the  same  century  this  castle  was  held  against  King 
I  lenrv,  wild  besieged  and  took  it,  and  tluii  dismantled  the  building;  but  it  was 
afterwards  rebuilt  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  in  a  style  of  great  magnilicence, 
and  the  moat  and  towers  were  rendeied  moie  defensible. 

Then  for  nearly  400  years  history  is  silent  regarding  this  fortress,  lor  we  hear 
nothing  about  it  till,  in   December  1642,  it  is  said  to  have   been  garrisoned  for 


94  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Kini,'  Charles,  under  Sir  Jolin  Deiiliam,  the  sherilf.  It  was  attacked  and  taken  hy 
Sir  William  Waller  soon  after,  and  suffered  much  injury,  part  of  the  building 
being  destroyed  with  gunpowder.  Still  it  remained  defensible,  for  a  year  later 
Waller  secured  in  the  castle  and  chuieli  of  Farnham  900  prisoners  taken  at 
Alton.  F"ive  years  after  this,  in  July  1648,  when  the  Parliament  was  in  supreme 
power,  the  committee  charged  with  the  supervision  of  all  defensible  places,  who 
sat  at  Derby  House,  ordered  P'arnham  Castle  to  be  completely  dismantled,  that  it 
might  not  endanger  the  peace  of  the  country.  Then  the  materials  were  sold,  the 
lead,  timber,  iron,  and  glass  were  stripped  from  the  building,  and  the  proceeds 
given  to  the  troops.  At  the  Restoration  the  manor  and  castle  were  restored  to  the 
See  of  Winchester,  and  between  1662  and  1684  the  sum  of  ;^8ooo  was  expended 
by  Bishop  Morlev  in  rebuilding  and  repairs. 

Hence  originated  most  of  the  present  structure:  a  quadrangular  brick  building 
of  questionable  taste,  embattled  and  stuccoed.  There  is,  however,  one  tower  at 
the  W.  end  which  seems  to  have  belonged  to  the  old  dismantled  building,  and  the 
great  gateway  retains  some  of  its  old  character.  Passing  through  this,  and  leaving 
on  the  right  the  great  hall  and  the  State  apartments,  entrance  is  gained  to  the 
inner  court,  where  stand  the  remains  of  the  keep  of  the  ancient  castle,  a  polygon 
ol  no  great  size,  which  was  once  flanked  by  towers  that  have  now  vanished. 
Within  llic  (lixiiway  a  long  passage  ascends  to  the  summit,  and  a  second  way 
leads  into  the  area  of  the  keep,  where  little  is  now  left  but  the  external  walls.  In 
1761,  when  the  drawing  given  by  Grose  was  made,  a  flight  of  steps  led  up  to  the 
finst  storey,  about  20  feet  from  the  ground.  The  walls  of  the  castle  are  very 
slight,  about  2  feet  thick,  having  brick  occasionally  mingled  -with  the  masonry. 
The  whole  is  surrounded  with  a  moat,  now  dry  and  planted  with  trees,  the  area 
enclosed  by  the  ditch  being  about  two  acres. 

Adjoining  the  castle  is  a  fine  park  of  300  acres,  watered  by  the  stream  Lodden, 
which  rises  in  the  neighbourhood.  This  was  of  old  The  Little  Park,  and  is  now 
well  stocked  with  fallow  deer.  The  great  park,  which  contained  1000  acres,  was 
disparked  by  an  Act  dated  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

On  the  E.  side  of  the  court  is  a  passage  leading  down  to  a  sally-port,  and  on 
the  S.  are  some  ancient  columns  with  painted  arches,  and  having  an  arched  vault 
abcwe  them  :  an  interesting  remnant  of  the  old  fabric. 

GUILDFORD  (,uuior) 

THE  great  chalk  range  which  sub-divides  the  county  from  E.  to  W.  is  pierced 
in  two  places  by  river  courses  :  at  the  E.  end  by  the  Mole,  at  Dorking,  and 
near  its  W.  end,  where  it  forms  the  fine  narrow  ridge  called  the  Hog's  Back,  by 
the  passage  of  the  river  Wey,  on  its  route  to  the  Thames.  At  this  latter  gap, 
chiefly  on  the  heights  on  the  E.  side,  stands  Guildford,  the  ancient  county  town 
of  Surrey,  the  first  mention  of  which  place  occurs  temp.  Alfred,  in  whose  will  the 


SURREY 


95 


lands  are  said  to  belong  to  liim.     Here  is  a  Saxon  mound  or  burli,  showing  the 
existence  of  a  roval  residence,  as  at  Tamworth,  Leicester,  Warwick,  and  other 


r.UILDFORI) 


sites,  but  no  mention  is  found  of  a  castie  until  the  reign  of  John  ;  it  is,  how- 
ever, probable  that  the  whole  of  this  fortress,  of  keep,  hall,  and  domestic  build- 
ings, with  its  outer  walls,  enclosing  nearly  six  acres,  was  constructed  by  Henry  II. 
(Clark.)  The  castle  is  placed  a  little  above  the  town,  which  intervenes  between  it 
and  the    livcr.     On    the    \.K.   of    the   gorge   and    from    its   foot    the    chalk    slope 


^6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

stretches  gradually  away  to  the  W.,  a  little  above  the  river  Wey,  although  in  so  good 
a  position,  defending  as  it  does  the  southern  approach  to  London,  no  militaiy 
Iiistory,  no  sieges  or  surprises,  are  connected  with  it. 

The  Saxon  fortress  on  tlie  mound,  however,  has  a  gloomy  tradition,  being 
the  place  where  Eail  Godwin  is  said,  in  1036,  to  have  entrapped  Alfred  the 
Atheling,  the  brother  of  the  Confessor,  who,  during  the  interregnum  after  the  death 
of  Canute,  came  over  from  Normandy  at  Godwin's  bidding,  and  was  there  seized, 
and  his  Norman  followers  blinded  and  killed  or  mutilated  ;  Alfred  was  carried  to 
Ely,  where  he  was  blinded,  and  where  he  died  soon  after. 

In  1202  repairs  are  mentioned  at  the  gaol  of  this  castle,  which,  though  royal 
property,  seems  to  have  been  used  as  a  prison.  There  was  an  extensive  and 
well-stocked  park  here,  and  King  John  came  here  nineteen  times  in  eleven  years, 
staying  in  1215  for  a  week.  As  is  stated  in  regard  to  the  hunting  propensities  of 
this  King  and  others  at  castles  in  Sussex  and  elsewhere,  the  absence  of  regular 
markets  in  the  land  obliged  the  maintenance  of  vast  preserves  of  game,  which 
were  hunted  by  the  King  and  his  Court  in  succession,  in  order  to  provide  food  for 
themselves  and  followers. 

When  the  Dauphin  Louis  was  called  over  by  the  barons  in  1216,  he  passed 
with  ins  armv  from  Sandwich  to  Guildford,  and  seized  and  held  this  castle,  as  well 
as  those  of  Reigate  and  P'arnham,  before  proceeding  in  pursuit  of  King  John. 
The  Liberate  Rolls  of  Henry  III.  contain  directions  for  a  great  variety  of  work 
executed  at  this  castle,  chiefly  for  increasing  the  comfort  and  refinement  of  the 
private  and  domestic  apartments,  i\g.  : 

"  In  1240  new  glass  windows  are  put  in  the  chapel,  &c.,  and  a  new  kitchen  is 
added  in  1244,  with  a  chamber  for  Prince  Edward,  50  feet  long  by  26  wide, 
'above  the  chamber  of  the  king's  noble  valets  beneath';  also  large  glass 
windows  in  the  queen's  wardrobe  and  the  hall.  In  1251  new  pillars  of  Reigate 
stone  to  the  arches  of  the  hall  are  ordered,  showing  that  this  hall  was  built  in 
aisles,  like  Oakham,  Winchester,  and  others,  and  in  this  year  the  walls  of  the 
castle  are  strengthened  with  buttresses,  and  three  mills  are  built  in  the  park 
(which  therefore  included  the  river  here),  one  for  corn,  one  for  malt,  and  the  third 
for  fulling;  also  many  repairs  and  additions  are  made.  In  1256  a  porch  is  given 
to  the  hall,  which  latter  is  to  be  painted  with  the  appropriate  story  of  Dives  and 
Lazarus.  A  new  gateway  is  ordered  next  year,  with  a  large  solar  over  it,  32  feet 
by  18,  and  a  wardrolx-  at  the  side  ;  four  glass  windows  are  to  be  inserted  in  the 
hall,  the  devices  on  which  are  prescribed.  In  1258  the  two  chapels  are  paved 
with  tiles,  ;is  also  the  chambers  of  the  king  and  the  queen,  and  there  is  added  '  a 
small  house  to  heat  the  queen's  food."  The  King  inspects  various  aherations  in 
1 261,  when  the  great  hall  receives  the  usual  coating  of  whitewash  ;  indeed, 
wiiitewash,  outside  and  inside,  such  as  we  see  nowadays  on  coastguard  stations, 
seems  to  have  been  the  regimen  for  all  buildings  and  walls ;  and  it  is  possible 
that  in  this  way  the  keep  of  the  great  London  fortress  acquired  the  name  of  "The 


SURREY  97 

Wliite  Tijwer."  Henry  was  also  fond  of  coloiiriiif^  the  walls  of  some  of  the 
rooms,  even  the  wainscottinj^  and  ceilinj^,  with  a  light  giound,  usually  of  a  green 
tint,  and  stencilling  thereon  gold  and  silver  stars,  after  the  fashion  at  Florence, 
and  among  his  foreign  artists  was  one  Master  William,  a  Florentine,  who  was 
both  architect  and  master  of  the  works  at  Guildff)rd. 

Edward  I.  assigned  (iuildford  in  part  dower  to  his  second  wife  Margaret,  at 
whose  death  it  reverted  to  Edward  II.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  this  castle 
was  the  headquarters  of  the  sheriff  of  Surrey,  who  was  ordered  to  prevent  the 
holding  here  of  tournaments  —  deemed  dangerous  and  unnecessary.  This 
Sovereign  was  frequently  here,  hut  the  castle  at  that  time  was  used  as  a  common 
prison,  and  so  continued  till  tiie  reign  of  Henry  \'il.  In  1611-12,  after  being 
attached  to  the  Crown  foi  700  yeais,  James  I.  granted  it  to  one  Francis 
Carter,  in  whose  family  it  long  remained.  It  is  now  the  property  of  Lord 
Grantley. 

The  fine  Xorniaii  keep  is  aliiKisI  ill  tli.it  remains  of  this  extensive  castle  ;  it  is 
built  in  rough  Bargate  stone  rubble  on  the  highest  point  of  the  slope,  at  the 
Sa.xon  moimd,  which  is  qo  feet  in  diameter,  and  encircled  with  a  broad  and  deep 
ditch  ;  traces  appear  also  of  a  second  outer  ditch,  filled  in.  The  keep  is 
rectangular,  with  pilasters  at  the  ends  of  each  face,  and  is  built  only  partly  on  the 
mound.  Clark  savs  that  rectangular  keeps  were  seldom  built  on  mounds, 
Guildford,  Christchurch,  and  Chin  being  the  only  recorded  examples  ;  in  building 
on  a  mound  the  annular  or  "shell  "  form  was  adopted,  for  the  better  distribution 
of  the  weight  ;  and  here,  as  if  afraid  to  trust  the  square  keep  to  the  mound  onlv,  a 
part  rests  on  its  E.  slope.  The  basement  has  been  converted  at  some  time  into  a 
kitchen  with  brickwork  ;  its  entrance  was  14  feet  above  the  ground  level,  under 
a  pointed  arch,  and  was  without  a  portcullis.  The  chief  floor  of  state  is 
30  feet  high,  vaulted  with  three  miiial  chambers,  and  lighted  by  round-headed 
windows.  Its  chief  apartment  is  lined  on  one  wall  with  an  early  Norman  arcade, 
and  seems  to  have  been  an  oratorv  ;  on  its  walls  are  rude  flni/fili  of  biblical 
subjects.  The  staircase  is  in  the  X.W.  angle  from  this  stage  to  the  roof.  The 
second  floor,  15  feet  high,  is  lighted  by  foin^  windows,  having  a  small  mural 
garderobe  with  its  drain  corbelled  out  from  the  wall,  and  lighted  by  a  loop. 

Outside  the  keep  on  the  edge  of  the  mound  was  a  high  wall,  of  which  half 
remains,  having  an  entrance  with  a  common  garderobe  for  the  castle.  Access  to 
the  keep  must  have  been  by  an  outer  wooden  staircase.     (Clark.) 

The  curtain  wall  of  the  castle  ran  along  the  line  of  Quarry  Street  from  a  tower 
at  the  corner  of  this  and  Castle  Street,  past  the  great  gateway  to  a  late  Norman 
postern  still  existing  at  the  S.W.  angle,  thence  round  the  counterscarp  of  the 
ditch  t(i  tile  W.  tower.  The  gate  in  Ouany  Street  is  a  mere  opening  in  the 
curtain  (temp.  Henry  111.),  and  the  gatehouse  over  it  has  gone.  There  are  no 
walls  on  the  N.  and  E.  but  the  lines  of  the  ditch  can  be  traced.  The  domestic 
buildings  are  late  Norman,  but  only  some  detached  fragments  of  these  survive. 
VOL.   I.  X 


98  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Immediately  outside  the  enceinte  is  an  immense  series  of  caverns,  cut  in  the 
chalkstone,  which  are  possibly  the  quarries  from  whicli  the  castle  was  partly 
built. 

REIGATE   {>io,i-cxisknf) 

AT  the  X.  of  the  town,  behind  the  principal  street,  is  the  site  of  this  castle, 
said  to  have  occupied  the  position  of  an  ancient  Saxon  earthwork. 
Nothing  appears  to  be  known  of  the  founder,  but  it  became  one  of  the  chief 
seats  of  the  Earls  of  Warren  and  Surrey.  At  the  distracted  period  of  the  Great 
Cliarfer,  William,  sixth  Earl  of  Surrey,  after  acting  on  the  side  of  King  John, 
joined  the  barons,  and  when  Louis  the  Dauphin  was  invited  to  the  throne  of 
England,  this  castle  was  thrown  open  to  the  French. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  Barons'  War,  in  1270,  John,  the  seventh  earl, 
having  lost  a  lawsuit  against  Alan,  Baron  de  la  Zouche,  meeting  his  adversary  in 
the  Palace  of  Westminster,  proceeded,  in  contempt  of  the  laws,  to  assault  him, 
inflicting  wounds  which  caused  his  death  ;  he  then  fled  by  boat  across  the 
Thames,  and  sought  the  shelter  of  Reigate  Castle.  King  Henry  summoned  him 
to  answer  for  his  double  crime,  and,  on  his  refusal,  Prince  Edward  and  the 
Archbishop  of  York  soon  appeared  before  the  castle.  Before,  however,  the  attack 
could  commence,  the  earl  surrendered,  placing  himself  at  the  King's  mercy,  and 
the  end  of  the  matter  was  that  he  had  to  pay  10,000  marks  into  the  Treasury,  and 
2000  to  de  la  Zouche's  son.  Besides  this  he  had  to  walk  in  solemn  procession, 
with  fifty  knights  as  "compurgators,"  from  the  Temple  to  Westminster  Hall,  and 
there  declare  on  oath  "that  the  assault  was  the  prompting  of  hasty  rage  and  not 
of  malice  aforethought."  The  fines  he  paid  would,  according  to  Hallam,  amount 
to  about  ^200,000  of  our  money. 

Seven  years  after  this  the  earl  entertained  Edward  1.  with  great  splendour  in 
his  castle  at  Reigate,  and  this  was  the  culminating  point  of  its  grandeur. 

The  same  Earl  John  founded  a  chantry  there  for  the  celebration  of  a  daily 
Mass  for  his  own  soul  and  the  souls  of  his  family. 

In  1317  the  Earl  of  Surrey  sent  a  party  to  Canford  in  Dorset  to  capture 
Alice  de  Lacy,  the  wife  of  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  and  with  her  consent, 
as  was  said,  carried  her  off  in  triumph  to  the  earl  at  his  castle  of  Reigate. 
On  their  way  among  the  hedges  and  woods  between  Haulton  and  Farnham,  her 
escort,  seeing  some  men  and  banners  moving  in  the  distance,  fled  and  left  the 
lady,  but  returned  and  finished  their  duties  of  escort  on  finding  the  partv  con- 
sisted only  of  some  priests  going  in  procession.  The  Earl  of  Lancaster  obtained  a 
divorce  from  his  wife,  and  then,  going  to  Sandal,  in  revenge,  burned  Surrey's 
castle  there,  and  laid  waste  his  manors  N.  of  the  Trent.  The  tenth  Earl, 
Richard  FitzAlan  was  besieged  here  by  the  friends  of  Richard  II.,  headed  by  De 
Vere,  Duke  of  Ireland,  but  they  were  repulsed  from  the  walls. 


SURREY  99 

Little  is  known  regarding  the  causes  of  the  neglect  and  disrepair  into  which 
this  castle  must  subsequently  have  fallen.  Lambarde,  who  made  a  perambulation 
(temp.  Elizabeth),  says  that  even  then  "only  the  ruyns  and  rubbishe  of  an  old 
castle,  which  some  call  Holmesdalc,  were  to  be  seen  here";  and  Camden, 
speaking  of  Reigate,  says  :  "  On  the  E.  side  standeth  a  castle,  mounted  aloft,  now 
forlorne,  and  for  age  ready  to  fall." 

Connected  with  Reigate  is  the  following  episode  in  the  Civil  War,  quoted 
from  the  "  Diary  of  Public  Events,"  in  Carlyle's  "Cromwell." 

"July  5,  1648.— Young  Villiers,  Uuke  of  liuckingham,  with  his  brother 
P'rancis,  Lord  Feterboro,  the  Earl  of  Holland,  and  others,  who  will  pay  dear  for 
it,  started  up  about  Kingston-on-Thames  with  another  insurrectionary  armament. 
Fairfa.x  and  the  army  being  all  about  Colchester  in  busy  siege,  there  seemed  a 
good  opportunity  here."  They  ride  to  Reigate,  several  hundreds  strong,  and 
before  they  can  be  interfered  with,  take  possession  of  the  town  and  its  old 
castle.  A  detachment  of  Parliamentary  cavalry  is  sent  against  them,  and  attacks 
and  drives  in  the  guards  which  they  had  stationed  upon  Red  Hill.  Ne.xt  morning 
the  cavaliers  leave  Reigate,  their  assailants  folhnving  close,  and  they  come  into 
action  between  Nonsuch  Park  ;iiul  Kingston.  After  as  gallant  a  defence  and  as 
sharp  a  charge  as  was  ever  seen  in  these  unhappy  wars,  says  Major  Audeley, 
the  Parliamentary  commander,  the  Royalists  are  driven  off  the  held,  leaving 
poor  Lord  Francis  X'illiers  standing  with  his  back  against  a  tree,  defending 
himself  till  he  sinks  under  his  wounds.  Being  pursued  across  the  river,  they  fell 
into  the  lion's  jaws  ;  for  Fairfax  sent  a  party  from  Colchester  who  overt(Jok  them 
at  St.  Xeots,  and  captured,  killed,  and  entirely  dispersed  them.  The  Earl  of 
Holland  stood  his  trial  afterwards,  and  lost  his  head  ;  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
got  iitt  ;  Lend  I'elcrborough  got  dlf,  too,  and  wantlered  in  foreign  parts  in  a 
totally  ruined  condition  (sec  Bl.ETCHiXGLiiY,  SlKKiiV). 

Salmon  says  that  Lord  William  Monson  had  this  demolished  castle  and  manor 
after  the  Commons'  War.  It  was  forfeited  at  the  Restoration,  and  was  enjoyed  by 
the  Duke  of  York  (i.e.  James  11.),  until  the  Revolution  of  1688,  when  Lord 
Somers  had  a  grant  of  it. 

At  the  end  ©f  the  last  century,  some  portions  of  the  outer  walls  remained,  but 
at  the  present  day  no  masonry  at  all  is  visible.  On  the  top  of  the  hill  is  a  broad 
ditch,  now  dry,  surrounding  an  area  of  nearly  two  acres,  and  in  the  centre  of  this 
is  the  opening  to  a  flight  of  stairs,  with  an  incline  and  passage  233  feet  long, 
leading  down  into  a  cave  cut  out  of  the  sandstone  rock,  123  feet  long,  13  wide, 
and  II  high  ;  in  one  part  is  a  sort  of  crypt  50  yards  long,  having  a  seat  of  stone 
in  it.  The  whole  was  perhaps  a  storehouse,  and  also  a  prison  ;  but  a  tradition 
exists  that  in  this  cave  the  barons  held  a  council  before  meeting  King  John  at 
Runimede,  a  very  unlikely  proceeding,  since  the  castle  then  belonged  to  the 
Royalist  Eiul  de  Warenne. 


lOo  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

STERBOROUGH,    or    STARBOROUGH  {mn-existeni) 

ORIGINALLY  called  Prinkliam,  this  castle  was  in  the  E.  corner  of  the 
county,  upon  the  frontier  of  the  kingdom  of  Kent,  and  seems  to  have  had 
a  foundation  as  early  as  the  time  of  the  Heptarchy.  (Salmon.)  The  manor-house 
of  the  property  was  made  into  a  castle  (temp.  Edward  III.),  but  no  remains  of  it 
e.xist  at  the  present  day. 

The  common  ancestor  of  the  Surrey  and  Kent  branches  of  the  Cobham  family 
was  John,   a  justiciar   itinerant  in   the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  who  died  in  1251, 
having  purchased  Couling  and  Westcheltre  in  Kent.     By  his  second  wife,  Joan, 
daughter  of  Hugh  de  Neville,  he  had  five  sons,  of  whom  John,  the  eldest,  was 
ancestor   of   the   Cobhams   of   Cobham   and    Couling ;    and   another,  Reginald, 
married  Joan,  daughter  of  William  de  Hevere  or  Evere,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his   eldest   son,  Reginald,  born   about   1295,  who  was  an  illustrious  character, 
eminent  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  founder  of  the  Surrey  branch  of  the 
Cobhams.     He  was  employed  in  the  French  wars,  where  he  probably  acquired 
much  wealth  ;  and,  being  created  baronet  in   15  Edward  III.,  obtained  a  licence 
to    crenellate   his   house   at    Prinkham,    named    thenceforth   Starborough,    from 
the  star  badge  of  the  family.     He  was  called  to    Parliament  as  Lord  Cobham 
of  Sterborough,  and  was  one  of  the  chief  leaders  at  the  battle  of  Crepy,  when  the 
King  committed  to  his  care  and  to  that  of  Sir  John  Chandos  and  the  Earl  of 
Warwick,  the  young  Black  Prince,  then  making  his  first  essay  in  arms.     After 
Crepy  he  was  appointed,  with  Sir  Richard  Stafford  and  three  heralds,  to  number 
the  French  slain,  with  two  priests  to  record  the  names,  when  they  found  eighty 
standards,  and  the  bodies  of  eleven  princes,  1200  knights,  and  3000  men-at-arms. 
At  Poictiers  Lord  Cobham  acted  as  marshal  of  the  van   to  Edward  the  Black 
Prince,  and  there  saved  the  life  of  the  King  of  France  from  his  would-be  captors 
(iVf  Froissart,  ii.  167).     To  support  his  dignity   he  was  granted  the  mill  at  the 
castle  of  O.xford  and  the  King's  mede  there  ;  he  was  also  admiral  of  the  King's 
fleet,  with  a  grant  of  ;4'5oo  a  year  for  life,  and,  in  1352,  was  elected   Knight  of  the 
Garter,  being  the  fourth  knight  on  the  list.     His  plate  is  still  to   be  seen  in  the 
ninth  stall  at  Windsor.     At  his  death  he  was  seised  of  the  manors  of  Oxsted, 
Prinkham,  and  Langley  Burrell,  with   Lye  in  Wilts,  and  Northey  in   Sussex,  and 
many  others  in  Kent.     Lord  Sterborough  died  of  the  pestilence  in  1361,  and  his 
tomb  is  to  be  seen  in  the  parish  church  of  Lingfield.  He  had  married  Joan,  daughter 
of  Thomas,  Lord  Berkeley,  by  whom  he  had  Reginald,  second   Lord  Cobham, 
born  1348.     He  served  in  the  French  wars  of  i  Richard  II.,  and  3  Henry  IV., 
and  was  a  friend  of  the  poet  Chaucer  ;  he  died  1403,  and  was  buried  in  Lingfield, 
where  is  seen  his  tomb,  with  his  effigy  in  marble.     His  son   Reginald  was  never 
summoned  to  Pariiament,  and  was  called  Sir  R.  de  Cobham  ;  to  him  was  en- 
trusted the   keeping   of  the  Duke  of   Orleans,   (afterwards   Louis  XII.),   taken 
prisoner   at  Agincourt,  and   released   after   twenty   years'    imprisonment,  for   an 


SURREY  lOi 

enormous  ransom.  He  died  in  1446,  and  his  tomb,  in  company  witli  liis  second 
wife,  to  whom  lie  left  Steiborough,  is  near  those  of  liis  father  and  grandfather; 
his  tigiue  is  in  complete  and  ponderous  plate  armour,  while  his  father  wears 
armour  of  light  mail  and  leather. 

The  second  son  of  this  man  succeeded  as  Sir  Thomas  Cobham  of  Sterborough, 
and  died  1471,  leaving  only  a  daughter,  Anna,  married  to  Sir  Edward  Borough, 
a  descendant  o(  Hulurt  de  Hurgh,  Earl  of  Kent  (temp.  Henry  HI.),  and  this 
family  lived  here — a  Sir  Thomas  Borough  dying,  seised  of  it,  in  1551.  The  place 
passed,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  to  William,  Lord  Borough,  whose  title  becoming 
extinct  in  1602,  at  the  death  of  a  child,  Lord  Robert,  Sterborough  fell  to  three 
granddaughters  of  the  last  lord,  and  was  by  them  sold  to  Sir  Thomas  Richardson, 
Chief  Justice  of  Queen's  Bench.  He  died  1634,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  The  old  castle  was  inuchased  in  1793  by  J.  Turton,  created  baronet 
1795,  who  added  dining  and  drawing-rooms  U)  the  building,  and  improved  it 
generally. 

The  castle  was  in  sufticiently  good  repair  during  the  Civil  War  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  to  receive  a  garrison  of  the  Parliament;  but,  as  all  that  part  of  the 
country  was  in  their  power,  nothing  of  note  took  place  here.  In  1648  the  House 
of  Commons  directed  the  Committee  at  Derby  House  to  have  regard  to  Ster- 
borough Castle,  and  "  to  put  it  in  such  a  state  that  no  use  might  be  made  of  it  to 
the  endangering  of  the  peace,"  which  led  to  it^  demolition.  Manning  speaks  of  a 
sketch  of  this  castle,  by  which  it  appears  to  have  been  rectangular  and  built  round 
a  central  court,  with  round  toweis  at  the  corners,  surmounted  with  domes,  the 
whole  surrounded  with  a  moat,  enclosing  li  acres,  and  having  a  drawbridge. 


TOWER  OF  LONDON 


/IftibMesej 


BAYNARD'S   CASTLE  {nou-cxistct) 

BESl  DES  the  great  fortress  known  as  the  Tower  of  London,  the  only  other 
castle  of  importance  in  London  was  this  one,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  erected  by  Ralph  Baynard,  one  of  Duke  William's  followers  from 
Normandy,  to  whom  were  granted  the  lands  of  Little  Dunmow  and 
others  in  Essex,  and  who  from  his  connection  with  this  stronghold  at  one  time 
held  the  custody  of  the  City  itself ;  he  died  in  the  reign  of  Rufus.  William,  the 
third  baron,  being  attainted  for  rebellion  by  Henry  I.,  his  estates  were  given  to 
Robert  FitzRichard,  fifth  son  of  Richard  de  Tonbridge,  son  of  Gilbert,  Earl  of 
Clare,  steward  and  cup-bearer  to  the  King,  who  in  this  way  obtained  William 
Baynard's  Castle  by  the  Thames,  and  the  offices  pertaining  to  it ;  he  died  in  1198, 
liis  son  Robert  EitzWalter  succeeding  him.  It  was  the  attempt  of  the  ruffian 
King  John  on  the  honour  of  this  noble's  beautiful  daughter,  Matilda,  or  Maud 
the  Yaw,  which  brought  the  discontent  of  the  barons  to  a  head,  in  view  of  the 
indignity  thus  offered  to  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  their  Order.  It  is 
scarcely  probable  tliat  the  fair  maiden  was  kept  prisoner  by  John  in  the  great 
circular  turret  of  the  White  Tower,  but  the  story  goes  that  she,  being  at 
Diunnow,  was  there  killed  by  poison  administered  in  an  egg.  Her  father, 
naturally  siding  with  the  dissentient  barons,  was  banished  by  the  King  and 
had  his  castle  despoiled.  But  when  John,  in  12 14,  after  his  invasion  of  France, 
iiatl    signed  a  five  years'  truce    with  the    French    King,  the  two    lately  opposed 


MIDDLESEX  103 

armies  lay  facing  each  ntlier  on  citlicr  side  of  a  river.  An  English  knight 
challenged  the  French  army  to  a  joust,  and  was  taken  up  by  an  Englisli  knight 
serving  in  that  army,  who  turned  out  to  be  this  same  FitzWalter.  In  the  contest 
that  ensued,  FitzWalter  defeated  his  challenger  in  such  gallant  style  that  John, 
learning  who  he  was,  forgave  him,  and  granted  back  his  lands  and  castles. 
Afterwards  however,  FitzWalter  headed  the  resistance  of  the  barons,  and  had  the 
title  of  "  Marshal  of  the  Army  of  God  and  of  the  Church,"  being,  after  the 
signing  of  the  Great  Charter,  one  of  the  twenty-live  haions  apppointed  to  enforce 
its  observance.  He  was  taken  prisoner  at  Lincoln,  and  then  went  to  the  Holy 
Land,  dying  in  1134.  His  grandson.  Sir  Robert  was  summoned  to  Parliament 
23  Edward  I.,  and  died  1325. 

This  baron,  in  1275,  alienated  Bavnard's  Castle  in  favour  of  Bisliop  Robert,  of 
Canterbury,  who  moved  into  this  building  the  Dominicans,  or  Black  Friars,  from 
Holborn ;  but  the  rights  belonging  to  Sir  Robert  FitzWalter,  castellan  and 
standard-bearer  of  London  in  time  of  war,  are  given  in  a  document  which  has 
been  preser\x-d.  His  son  Rdbcit  c1k(1  in  1328,  and  Sii-  William,  the  third  in  line, 
was,  in  1361,  knighted  for  his  bravery  in  war. 

Walter,  the  fifth  baron,  died  1407,  having  married  Joan,  sister  and  heiress  of 
John,  Lord  Devereu.x,  and  thus  becoming  also  Baron  Devereux.  Walter,  seventh 
baron,  fought  undei'  Ilenrv  \'.  in  the  I'"rcnch  W;irs,  ;ind  dying  in  1432,  left  a 
daughter,  Elizabeth,  who  conveved  the  lands  and  baronies  to  Sir  John  Radcliffe, 
Knt.,  afterwards  Baron  FitzWalter.  His  son,  Sir  John,  lost  his  head  in  1495,  in 
the  matter  of  Perkin  Warbeck,  but  his  forfeited  lands  were  restored  to  the  son, 
whom  Henry  VI 11.  created  \'iscount  l-'ilzWalter  in  1529,  making  him,  live 
years  later,  Earl  of  Sussex  and  K.G.  His  descendant.  Sir  Edward,  sixth  viscount 
and  earl,  died  s.p.  in  1641,  when  the  honours  ended  ;  they  were,  however, 
renewed  in  1669  to  a  collateral  heir,  Benjamin  Mildmav,  whose  two  sons 
succeeded,  the  last,  Henry,  being  created,  \n  1730,  \'iscnunt  Haiwieh  and  Earl 
F"itzWilliam,  who  died  in  1753,  and  the  titles  finally  became  extnict  in  the  person 
of  Sir  Brook  William  Bridges,  Baron  FitzWalter,  who  died  in  1875. 

The  first  building  was,  of  course,  a  Norman  keep,  but  of  this  structure  we 
know  nothing.  Its  successor,  as  restored  (temp.  Elizabeth),  is  shown  as  a  huge 
quadrangular  block  of  buildings  in  five  gable-ended  divisions,  with  hexagonal 
corner  towers,  two  storeys  high  ;  beneath  it.  Pennant  says,  there  was  a  bridge 
with  stairs  to  the  liver. 

In  the  reign  of  Heiiiv  \'l.  the  place  was  transferred  from  the  Dominicans  to 
the  Crown,  when  it  was  held  by  Humphrev,  the  Good  Duke  of  Gloucester,  who 
rebuilt  the  part  of  the  house  destroyed  by  fire  in  1428.  He,  however,  though 
uncle  to  the  king,  was  attainted  by  the  party  of  Queen  Margaret,  and  is  supposed 
to  Iia\e  been  strangled  in  prison  in  1447  {str  Llilil^S  C.Asri.l-;,  Kl-:\r),  when 
Baynard  came  again  to  the  Crown. 

it  was  here  that  Edward,  Duke  of  York,  took  up  his  residence  on  coming  to 


,04  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

London  after  the  second  battle  of  St.  Albans,  and  from  lunce,  after  receiving  the 
deputation  inviting  him  to  tlie  throne,  he  went  in  procession  to  assume  the  crown, 
March  i,,  1461.  Here,  too,  dweh  his  brother  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  at  the 
time  of  liis  usurpation  of  the  kingdom;  his  successor,  Henry  VII.,  dwelt  at 
Baynard's  Castle  for  three  or  four  years,  and  Henry  VIII.  entertained  here,  with 
great  pomp,  Philip  of  Austria,  King  of  Castile,  afterwards  conferring  the  property 
on  William  Herbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  married  Anne,  the  sister  of  Queen 
Katherine  Parr.  In  this  house  the  succession  of  Mary  to  the  Crown  in  place 
of  Lady  Jane  Grev,  was  determined  on  by  the  opponents  of  Northumberland. 
Then,  in  the  ix-ign  of  Elizabeth,  it  was  occupied  by  Sir  John  Fortescue,  the 
keeper  of  her  wardrobe,  after  which  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  became  its  owner, 
having  obtained  the  prt)perty  by  marriage.  The  Great  F"ire  of  1666  put  an  end 
to  Bavnard's  Castle,  and  not  a  vestige  now  remains  of  it.  It  stood  upon  the  bank 
of  the  river,  immediately  below  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 


MONTFICHET   (nou-r.vish'u/) 

IX  addition  to  his  great  work  of  the  Tower,  the  Conqueror  caused  the  founding 
of  two  strongholds  at  the  \V.  end  of  the  City  walls,  to  overawe,  as  well  as  to 
protect,  the  town.  These  were  Baynard's  Castle  and  Montfichet,  the  latter  fortress 
being  built  by  a  Norman  named  Gilbert  de  Alontfichet,  who  founded  it  at  the  foot 
of  Addle  Hill,  near  to  the  Canon  Wharf.  Its  W.  side  was  washed  by  the 
Fleet  stream,  the  couise  of  which  was  diverted  afterwards  to  the  westward,  in 
order  to  improve  the  site  of  the  Dominican,  or  Black,  Friary. 

One  account  says  this  castle  was  destroyed  by  fire,  but  Pennant  relates  that 
King  John,  having,  in  1213,  banished  Richard,  the  son  of  Gilbert  Montfichet, 
demolished  his  castle,  which,  in  1276,  was  quite  pulled  down,  the  materials  being 
used  to  build  the  great  house  of  the  Dominicans  on  its  site.  Pennant  says 
that  the  City  wall  on  the  W.  ended  on  the  river  in  a  fort,  "  which  I  take  to  have 
been  the  Castle  of  Montfichet." 


TOWER   OF   LONDON  {due/) 

HISTORY 

ROMAN  and  Saxon  London  was  enclosed  liy  a  wall  with  mural  towers, 
which,  commencing  at  the  river-bank  on  the  E.  side  of  the  Fleet 
stream,  ran  northwards  to  Ludgate,  and  thence  eastwards  to  Aldersgate  and 
Cripplegate,— wheie  some  of  it  still  exists  at  "  London  Wall,"— then  by  the  line 
of  lloundsditch,  and  thence  southwards,  back  again  to  the  Thames,  over 
tile  high  ground  which  overlooked  the  low-lying  fields  where  are  now  the 
docks   of   St.  Katherine,  enclosing   an    area    of   about   400   acres.     The   wall    is 


MinnLKSF.X 


105 


supposed  to  have  been  huilt  by  the  Romans  shortly  before  they  quitted  Enj^land, 
about  the  year  360,  and  it  was  rebuilt  by  Kinj^  Alfred  in  886.  It  terminated  at  the 
edj^e  of  the  river,  near  where  the  Wakefield  Tower  and  entrance  Gatehouse  stand, 
and  this  elevated  ground  at  its  eastern  termiiuis  was  chosen  by  the  Conqueror  for 
the  site  of  a  fortress,  which  he  designed  both  for  the  subjection  of  the  town  and 
for  the  protection  of  the  port  of  London.     William  was  crowned  at  Christmas, 


/?   ;    1/    f    " 


^    nf     £     ^ 


TOWER  OF   LONDON 


1066,  and  he  probablv  at  once  formed  a  temporary  timber  stronghold  for  his  own 
protection,  after  the  Saxon  mode,  surrounded  by  a  strong  stockade  and  ditch, 
using  for  its  K.  flank  the  end  of  the  Roman  wall,  where  two  strong  towers  or 
bastions  existed. 

It  was  not  until  twelve  vears  later  that  lie  was  able  to  commence  the  building 
of  the  great  Xormaii  fortress  which  stands  here;  hut  in  1078  he  confided  to  a 
clerical  architect,  Gundnll,  tluii  Bishop  of  Rochester,  this  great  design.  Gundulf 
built  also  a  tower  at  Rochester,  and  one  also  for  his  own  dwelling  in  Kent  at 
West  Mailing,  and  he  is  thought  to  have  left  his  mark,  by  iiis  designs  or  other- 
VOL.   I.  O 


,o6  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

wise  -It  Colchester,  Xorwicli,  and  other  castles  in  England.  While  superintending 
the  erection  of  William's  White  Tower,  he  lived  at  the  house  of  a  fnend  m 
1  ondon.  one  Eadmer  Anhcrndc,  a  burgess  of  the  town,  and  as  he  lived  to  the  age 
ol  c.ghtv-four,  dying  in  1108  (9  Henry  I.),  it  is  likely  that  he  saw  the  completion 
of  this  'splendid  keep  in  the  reign  of  Rufus,  and  he  may  likewise  have  earned 
out  some  of  the  wall  and  towers  of  what  is  now  the  inner  ward,  or  ballium,  which 
was  large  enough  to  contain  the  royal  palace  and  lodgings  for  the  Court  and 
.rarrison"!  It  is  known  that  in  1097  the  Red  King  gave  offence  by  a  taxation 
huposed  for  the  purpose  of  creating  this  fortress.  Clark  is  of  opinion  that  the 
mighty  curtain  wall,  with  the  Wakefield,  Bell,  and  Devereux  Towers,  at  three 
angles  of  this  inner  ward,  are  coeval,  and  possibly  may  be  of  this  reign.  Perhaps 
the  Roman  wall  was  still  retained  on  the  E.  face  up  to  the  bastion,  winch 
modern  excavations  have  shown  to  have  existed  close  to  the  S.E.  corner  of  the 
keep,  where  afterwards  the  Wardrobe  Tower  was  built.  A  narrow  ditch 
probably  enclosed  the  whole  somewhat  on  the  line  of  the  present  moat. 

Even  in  those  early  days  "The  Tower,"  as  it  was  always  called,  seems  to  have 
fulfilled  its  triple  oflice  of  a  fortress,  a  palace,  and  a  prison.  Its  first  prisoner 
was  Ralph  Flambard,  Bishop  of  Durham,  the  evil  minister  of  Rufus,  whom 
Henry  I.  shut  up  in  the  council  chamber  of  the  White  Tower,  from  whence  he 
escaped.  He  was  allowed  a  large  sum  for  sustenance,  and  was  in  the  habit  of 
feasting  his  gaolers,  so  when  these  were  drunk  enough  to  fall  asleep,  having 
obtained  a  rope,  concealed  m  a  vessel  of  wine,  he  lowered  himself  from  a  window 
in  the  S.  gallery  ;  the  rope,  however,  was  too  short,  and,  falling  to  the  ground,  the 
bishop  injured  himself ;  still  he  managed  to  escape  to  Normandy,  and  eventually 
returned  to  his  See  of  Durham.  In  1106  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  and  the 
rightful  Sovereign  of  England,  with  the  Earl  of  Mortain,  was  imprisoned  here. 
Ueol'frey  de  Mandeville,  being  hereditary  custodian  (temp.  Stephen),  added 
to  the  defences,  and  held  the  fortress,  in  1143,  against  an  attack  by  the  citizens, 
who  ever  feared  and  loathed  it.     After  him  it  reverted  to  the  Crown. 

Becket,  as  Chancellor,  repaired  the  buildings  in  1155,  and  the  custody  of  the 
Tower  was  one  of  the  many  sources  of  discord  between  this  prelate  and  his  king. 

When  Henry  II.,  our  first  Plantagenet  king,  came  to  the  throne,  the  fortress 
consisted  of  the  White  Tower,  at  the  termination  of  the  old  City  wall,  having 
its  then  inner  ward  continued  by  a  curtain  wall  from  the  gatehouse  at  the 
S.W.  corner  of  the  keep,  called  Cold-Harbour,  to  the  Wakefield  or  Hall  Tower, 
and  thence  eastward  to  the  Lanthorn  Tower  on  the  S.E.,  whence  perhaps  the 
buildings  of  the  palace,  extending  northward  to  the  S.E.  corner  of  the  keep, 
completed  the  E.  side  of  the  enceinte  which,  though  small,  contained  all  the 
palace  lodgings.  The  great  hall  lay  between  the  Hall,  or  Wakefield,  and  Lan- 
thorn Towers,  facing  the  Thames  ;  outside  this  was  the  range  of  wall  and  towers, 
constituting  an  outer  bailey,  or  ward,  somewhat  on  the  lines  of  what  now  forms 
the  inner  ward,  that  is,  the  line  from  the   Bell  to  the   Devereux  Tower  at  the 


■•  '•'Ciill  111 

I- thee 


■""""''.which 
^liie  Court  and 
■"t^i  taxation 


^  t'crhaps 
*  Isstion,  which 
'•£■  corner  of  the 


W.  stills  to  have 
Its  fet  prisoner 
'i  R*,  whom 
■,  trom  Ance  he 
3s  in  the  habit  o( 
bll  iskep,  having 


(oniaiHiy,in(lthe 
!  unfrisoned  here. 


rovn. 

tlKCBSlodyofthe 

'Hsking. 

,  ^,.,.,Jie fortress 

:  Cit}-  vi,  having 

■  gitehouse  at  the 

ildorHallTomr, 

■■  whapstlic   \ 

:  the  tep,   ' 

,  contained  all  the 

'akeWd,  and  Lan- 


rtus 


Tower  at  the 


MIDDLESEX 


107 


X.W.  corner,  and  then  across  eastward  near  the  X.  end  (jf  the  Wlute  Tuwer  into 
tile  City  wall  aj,'ain.  it  is  impossible  to  say  whether  the  present  line  of  the  inner 
ward  on  the  E.  existed  at  that  date,  from  the  Salt  Tcjwer  to  the  liroad  Arrow  or 
the  Martin  Tower. 

To  Richard  CVeiir  cie  Lion  is  due  the  perfecting  (jf  the  defences  of  the  Tower, 
upon  plans  which  he  ielt  to  he  carried  out  by liis Chancellor,  William  Longchamp, 
Bishop  of  Ely,  during  his  own  absence  at  the  Crusade  in  1  UjO.    This  prelate,  how- 
ever,   by    his    tyranny    and 
exactions,  excited  the  resent- 
ment of  the  nation,  and  gave 
opportunity  to  Prince  John 
to    intervene,   and,  with   the 
assistance  of  a  strong  partv 
of  the  nobles,  to  force  him- 
self in  his  brother's  absence 
into  almost  regal  power. 

Longchamp  shut  himself 
up  in  the  Tower,  but  seeing 
the  forces  arrayed  against 
him,  surrendered,  when  the 
fortress  was  taken  possession 
of  bv  John.  Tiiat  piince 
made  it  a  royal  residence, 
and  frequently  lived  there  ; 
he     als(j      laid     out     much 

money  on  tlie  buildings,  and  nn[iro\'ed  the  ditch  bv  widening  it  to  200  feet. 
It  is  in  his  reign  that  we  first  hear  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter  ad  Vincula  in  the 
Tower.  In  1215  the  barons  laid  siege  to  the  Tower,  but  it  held  out  imtil  the 
signing  of  the  Great  Charter,  when  it  was  yielded  up  by  the  king  as  a  guarantee 
of  good  faith,  and  thus  it  was  held  till  the  arrival  of  the  Dauphin  in  England, 
when  the  nobles  put  him  in  possession,  and  he  held  it  as  long  as  he  remained  in 
the  country. 

Henry  111.,  by  his  rcbuildings  and  additions,  chiefly  at  the  river  front,  gave  the 
fortress  much  of  its  present  aspect  on  that  side,  his  chief  work  being  the  formation 
of  liie  great  water  gate  as  an  approach  to  the  inner  ward.  The  superb  segmental 
arch  of  this  gateway,  now  called  the  Traitors',  fell  twice  during  construction,  as 
the  vulgar  believed,  by  the  interposition  of  the  sainted  Becket,  but  after  the  Tower 
containing  it  had  been  gloritied  with  the  name  of  St.  Thomas,  and  more  solid 
foundations  had  been  laid  below  the  treacherous  bank  of  the  river,  the  building 
stood,  and  remains  to  this  day,  a  marvel  of  masonry.  This  King  also,  as  was  his 
custom  in  all  the  royal  dwellings,  made  constant  additions,  alterations,  and  repairs 
to  the  royal  lodgings  at  the  Tower,     .\butlmg  on  the  Hall  Tower  came  the  gre.it 


ST  JOHNS  CHAPKL 


,o8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

H;ill,  wliicli  ill  the  Literate  Roll  of  24  Henry  HI.  is  called  "the  great  chamber 
towards  tiie  Thames/'  at  the  E.  end  of  which  apartment  was  built  (or  rebuilt) 
in  that  year  the  Lanthorn  Tower,  which  contained  the  King's  bedchamber  and 
closet.  He  also  placed  on  the  top  of  the  S.  face  of  the  ^Vhite  Tower  a  timber 
allure,'  or  gangway,  covered  with  lead,  "  through  which  people  may  look  even 
unto  the  foot  of  the  said  tower  and  better  defend."  These  works  were  per- 
formed between  1239  and  about  1260. 

In  1244  Griflfin,  the  son  of  Llewellyn,  Prince  of  Wales,  behig  confined  as  a 
hostage  in  the  White  Tower,  came  to  a  miserable  end  in  attempting  to  escape  from 
one  of  the  windows.  He  was  stout,  and  his  weight  caused  the  rope,  which  he  had 
made  out  of  his  bed  clothing,  to  break,  and  he  was  found  next  morning  at  the 
foot  of  the  Tower  with  his  neck  broken.  In  1254  £22  was  paid  for  building  a 
house  for  the  King's  elephant  at  the  Tower,  40  feet  long  by  20.  The  beast  was  a 
present  from  the  King  of  France,  and  was  the  first  elephant  seen  X.  of  the  Alps. 

The  keeping  of  the  fortress  had,  in  1232,  been  committed  to  Hubert  de  Burgh, 
Earl  of  Kent,  the  devoted  servant  of  Richard  I.,  and  then  of  King  John,  who 
had  also  served  Henry  with  extreme  fidelity  ;  this,  however,  did  not  prevent  the 
King,  on  the  accusation  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  of  treason  against 'the  earl, 
from  depriving  him  of  all  his  honours,  and  consigning  him  to  a  dungeon  in  this  his 
own  castle.  After  the  passing  of  the  Oxford  Statutes  in  1258,  the  twenty-four  barons 
appointed  to  conduct  affairs  took  possession  of  the  Tower,  among  other  castles, 
and  confided  its  keeping  to  Hugh  de  Bigod  ;  but  dissensions  among  the  party 
enabled  Henry  to  re-enter  in  Feb.  1261,  and  he  remained  there  for  about  a  year. 
Again,  on  his  return  from  France,  Henry  shut  himself  up  in  the  Tower  with  his 
family  and  council,  when  the  barons,  headed  by  Simon  de  Montfort,  obtained 
from  him,  under  fear  of  a  siege,  another  ratification  of  the  Oxford  Statutes,  and 
thev  then  again  took  charge  of  the  fortresses,  placing  the  Tower  under  the  custody 
of  Hugh  le  Despenser.  It  was  in  this  year  (47  Henry  111.),  that  the  Queen,  leaving 
the  Tower  by  water  for  Windsor,  was  so  insulted  and  pelted  in  her  barge  by  the 
London  mob  assembled  on  London  Bridge  as  she  passed,  that  she  was  forced  to 
return.  The  Tower  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  barons'  party  until  after  the 
King's  victory  at  Evesham  in  1265,  when  the  King  regained  his  ascendancy. 

In  1268  Gilbert  de  Clare,  the  powerful  and  vacillating  Earl  of  Gloucester, 
began  a  new  strife,  and,  entering  London  with  an  army,  laid  siege  to  the  Tower, 
which  was  then  under  the  care  of  Hugh  Fitz  Otho.  At  the  time,  the  fortress  was 
full  of  Jews  who  had  taken  refuge  there,  and  it  was  so  magnanimouslv  defended  by 
them  that  time  was  given  for  Prince  Edward  to  collect  a  strong  force  at  Cambridge 
and  advance  against  de  Clare,  who  was  forced  to  raise  the  siege  and  make  terms. 
He  was  pardoned  by  his  friend  Prince  Edward  and  the  King,  but  when  the  former 
went  on  the  crusade  he  took  Gloucester  with  him,  as  too  turbulent  a  chief  to  be 
left  at  home  {sec  Tonbridge). 

After  this  the  Tower  assumes  its  new  eharacter   of  a  true  concentric  fortress, 


MIDDLESEX 


109 


the  iKitiiie  of  winch  fortilicalHjn  h;is  been  well  desciihed  by  Mr.  Clark  in  lll^,  work 
on  "  Medueval  Military  Architecture."  A  broad  moat  now  surrounded  the 
fortress  on  three  sides,  while  that  on  the  S.,  between  the  river  and  the  wall,  was 
controlled  bv  a  sluice.  From  the  edj^e  of  the  water  arose  the  line  of  the  outer 
wall  with  its  long  lines  of  mural  towers,  inside  of  which  lay  the  outer  ward,  or 
ballium,  of  narrow  width,  and  then  came  the  complete  ring  of  the  partly  old  and 
partly  new  circuit  of  the  inner  line  of  walls  and  towers,  enclosing  the  extensive 
inner  ward,  about  the  centre 
of  which  stood  the  mighty 
Norman  keep,  with  its  own 
circuit  of  wall  and  palace 
buildings.  The  whole  formed 
three  concentric  fortresses, 
supporting  one  another.  At 
tliat  time  also,  beyond  the 
moat,  was  formed  another 
small  moat  defending  a  bar- 
bican, all  which  latter  de- 
fence has  now  disappeared. 

In  the  time  of  Edward  II. 
the  Tower  was  much  used  as 
a  safe  retreat  for  that  King 
and  his  family  ;  his  Oueen 
long  resided  here,  and  her 
youngest  daughter,  being  born  v.lwu\   havkk 

here,  was  called  "  Joan  of  the 

Tower."  At  this  time  the  King  li.id  shut  up  in  the  Towel"  two  nobles  of 
importance  for  treason,  and  for  attacking  the  property  of  his  favourites  the 
Despensers  ;  these  were  Roger  Mortimer,  lord  of  Chirk,  the  uncle,  and  Roger 
Mortimer,  lord  of  Wigmore,  the  nephew.  The  uncle  died  ol  starvation,  but 
the  young  noble,  managing  to  get  into  the  good  graces  of  Queen  Isabella,  liad 
his  sentence  of  death  commuted  to  imprisonment.  He,  however,  conspired  again, 
this  time  plotting  the  seizure  of  the  Tower,  of  Windsor,  and  of  Wallingford,  by 
his  friends  ;  whereon  he  was  again  condemned  to  death.  However,  his  now 
strong  intimacy  with  the  Queen,  the  disastrous  results  of  which  belong  to  history, 
afforded  him  relief,  for  with  her  aid  he  succeeded  in  escaping  from  the  Tower,  by 
first  drugging  the  keepers,  and  then  by  some  means  getting  from  the  keep  into  an 
adjoining  kitchen,  from  the  roof  of  which  he  managed,  with  aid  from  witlmi,  to 
scale  the  wall  and  reach  the  Thames,  and  so  get  out  of  tiie  country  and  into  France. 
The  ne.\t  year  Isabella  went  to  I'aris,  ostensibly  to  make  a  truce  between  her 
brother  the  French  king  and  Edward,  and  here  she  was  joined  by  Mortimer  and 
the  barons  who  were  disafYected  and  sided  with  her  against  the  Despensers. 


I  lO 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


In  I -,26,  the  descent  on  England  was  planned,  and  in  September  Isabella 
and  a  foreign  armv,  with  Mortimer  in  command  of  an  English  force,  landed  at 
Harwich.  The  King  threw  himself  into  the  Tower  and  tried  to  attract  the 
Londoners  to  his  standard,  but  the  people  declared  for  the  Queen  ;  whereon 
Edward,  with  the  two  Uespensers  fled  to  Bristol,  leaving  his  youngest  son,  John 
of  Eltham,  in  charge  of  the  Tower,  with  Stapleton,  Bishop  of  Exeter.  Then  the 
citizens  rose  against  the  fortress,  forced  their  way  into  it,  seized  and  beheaded 
the  bishop,  and  set  all  the  prisoners  free.  Once  more  the  Tower  became  the 
prison  of  Roger  Mortimer,  who,  after  his  seizure  by  the  young  King  at  Nottingham 
Castle  in  1^30  {sec  Nottixcham),  was  sent  there  before  his  execution  at 
Tvburn. 

Edward  III.,  the  first  vears  of  whose  reign  were  spent  in  this  fortress,  did 
much  for  the  Tower  ;  he  caused  a  survey  to  be  made  of  it  in  1336,  which  resulted 
in  the  buildings  being  put  into  good  order,  and  it  was  garrisoned  in  1337,  when 
the  King  spent  much  time  there,  collecting  his  arms  and  stores  for  the  foreign 
wars.     His  Mint  was  also  established  there. 

On  November  30,  1340,  Edward  returned  unexpectedly  from  Tournay  to  the 
Tower,  and,  finding  the  constable.  Sir  Nicholas  de  la  Beche  (scr  Aldworth, 
BiiKKs),  absent,  and  no  one  left  in  charge  of  his  young  children,  he  imprisoned 
the  constable  and  other  oiScials,  and  punished  them,  residing  himself  there  imtil 
his  expedition  to  Brittany  in  October,  1342.  There  is  evidence  to  show  that  at  this 
date  gunpowder  was  manufactured  in  the  Tower. 

It  was  probably  at  this  period  that  the  Beauchamp  Tower  was  added,  as  well 
as  the  Bowyer,  and  perhaps  others, — among  them,  the  Salt  Tower,  if  it  be  not 
of  infinitely  older  date.  The  taking  of  Caen,  in  1346,  brought  hither  the  Conte 
d'Eu  and  de  Tankerville,  with  300  of  the  chief  citizens  as  prisoners,  to  fill  this 
fortress ;  and  hither  likewise,  in  January,  1347,  was  brought  prisoner  David,  King 
of  Scotland,  taken  the  preceding  year  at  the  battle  of  Neville's  Cross  ;  having  been 
badly  wounded  by  arrows  in  the  face  and  leg,  he  had  been  hitherto  kept  at  Bam- 
Inirgh  Castle  {(].r.).  As  there  is  a  charge  recorded  for  his  being  doctored  in 
the  Tower,  his  cure  does  not  seem  to  have  been  completed  in  the  North.  Later, 
in  the  same  year,  were  confined  here  Charles  de  Blois,  nephew  of  the  French  king, 
Philip,  captured  at  the  Castle  of  Roche  de  Rien,  and  upon  the  surrender  of  Calais, 
Jean  de  \'ienne,  its  brave  governor,  with  twelve  of  his  best  burghers.  In  1358 
John,  King  of  France,  and  his  son  Philip,  captured  at  Poictiers,  were  brought  to 
England  by  the  Black  Prince,  and  were  imprisoned  first  in  the  Savoy,  and  then  at 
Windsor  ((;.;•.),  where  much  liberty  was  allowed  them,  and  they  "  went  a-huntyng 
and  a-hawkyng  at  their  pleasure  ; "  but  suspicion  falling  on  King  John's  actions 
and  uitentions  at  Windsor,  he  was  in  1359  sent  into  confinement  in  the  Tower, 
where  he  remained  until  the  Peace  of  Bretigny  in  1360. 

Richard  II.  took  refuge  here  with  his  mother  and  other  ladies  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  insurrection  of  Wat  Tyler,  who  marched  to  London,  x\-ith  a  multitude,  said 


Minni.KSEX  111 

to  Ikivc  been  60,000  strong,  and  inciiacccl  the  Tower.  The  yoiin;,'  Kiiij,',  getting 
tile  greater  part  to  retire  to  Mile  End,  went  to  meet  tiie  rebels,  but  during 
his  absence,  before  the  gates  could  be  closed,  an  armed  rabble  broke  into  the 
Tower,  and  linding  Archbishop  Sudbury  and  Sir  Thomas  Hales,  the  treasurer,  in 
the  chapel  of  St.  John  dragged  them  out  and  murdered  them.  They  then  forced 
their  wav  into  the  royal  apartments,  and  insulted  the  yueen-mother,  the  widow  of 
the  Black  Prince,  and  pillaged  the  rooms.  In  1387  Richard  again  sought  refuge 
here  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion  headed  by  his  uncle  Gloucester,  and  here  he 
afterwards  imprisoned  Thomas  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick  in  the  tower  whicli 
still  bears  his  name.  To  the  Tower,  in  1396,  he  brought  his  child-wife,  Isabel  of 
France,  for  her  marriage  and  coronatif)n  ;  and  here,  too,  was  acted  the  last  scene 
of  his  troubled  reign,  when,  on  September  29,  1399,  in  the  council-chamber  of 
the  White  Tower,  he  resigned  his  crown  to  Henry  of  Bolingbroke.  Xe.xt  year 
his  dead  body  was  brought  to  the  Tower  from  Pontefract  to  be  publicly  exhibited. 

Henrv  IV.  kept  prisoner  here  for  a  long  time  the  young  king,  James  I.  of 
Scotland,  who  had  accidentally  fallen  into  Imn  hands  when  on  his  journey  by  sea 
to  France.  After  Agincourt,  Charles,  Uuke  of  Orleans,  was  conlined  here,  in 
the  State  apartments  of  the  White  Tower,  as  is  shown  by  a  drawing  in  Froissart 
given  in  Lord  de  Kos's  Memoirs  of  the  Tower. 

The  Tower  was  twice  besieged  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.;  once,  in  1450, 
unsuccessfully,  by  Jack  Cade  and  his  followers,  and  again,  in  1460,  when,  after 
t^dward,  Duke  of  York,  had  landed  from  Calais,  the  citizens  in  support  of  him  laid 
violent  siege  to  it,  with  large  guns  planted  on  the  other  side  of  the  Thames  ;  it  was 
tiun  JK-ld  for  Henry  by  Lord  Scales.  Evidences  of  this  attack  were  found  in  the 
shape  of  balls  of  iron  and  of  Kentish  stone,  in  the  S.  ditch  in  1843,  when  cleaned 
out.  On  the  capture  of  King  Henry,  after  the  Battle  of  Xortiiampton,  Scales 
yielded  the  Tower  to  the  Yorkists,  and  essayed  to  quit  it  privately  himself  by  water, 
but  he  was  pursued  and  slain,  his  naked  body  being  thrown  on  shore.  After- 
wards the  ill-fated  Henry  himself  was  immured  here,  being  restored  to  regal  power 
for  a  brief  space  in  1470  by  the  exertions  of  Warwick  the  King-maker  ;  but  after 
the  linal  defeat  of  Barnet  he  was  again  introduced  as  a  captive,  his  unhappy  queen 
being  also  brought  in  after  Tewkesbuiv.  Then  Edward  I\'.  entered  London 
again  triumphant,  on  May  21,  and  next  morning  King  Henry  was  found  dead  in 
the  Bloody  Tower,  as  some  say. 

Edward  IV.  improved  the  defences  of  the  fortiess  at  the  entrance,  at  what  was 
called  the  Lions'  Tower,  and  in  I47<S  lie  is  said  to  ]ia\'e  caused  luie  the  murder 
of  his  brother  George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  drowned  in  Malmsey  wine  (Malvoisie) 
in  the  basement  of  the  Bowyer  Tower.  This  King  died  April  9,  14X3,  and  then 
occurred  all  the  historical  events  so  faithfully  recited  by  Shakesiieare,  after  the 
stories  of  the  chronicleis,  nanieJN,  tile  acts  of  the  usurping  Duke  of  (iloucester  : 
first,  the  iuirried  murder  of  Hastings,  who  was  thrust  out  of  the  council-chamber 
of  the  keep,  and  beheaded  on   a  log  of  wood  outside,  on   June    13  ;   and  three 


I  12 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


chivs  alter,  llic  reception  at  tlic  Tower  of  the  young  princes,  "under  suer 
keepynf,',"  who  were  no  more  heard  of  ahve.  On  July  6,  Richard  came  to  the 
Tower  for  his  coronation  on  the  following  day. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Henry  VII.  after  Bosworth  was  to  remove  to  this 
prison,  from  Sheriff  Hutton,  in  Yorkshire  (q.r.),  the  nearest  remaining  heir  to 
the  Crown,  Edward  I'lantagenet,  Earl  of  Warwick,  whom  he  finally  murdered 
on  the  Tower  scaffold  after  Parkin  Warheck's  insuriection.  Then,  upon 
his  father's  death,  Henry  VIII.  retired  to  the  Tower,  and  lived  there  after  his 
marriage  with  Kathei-ine  of  Arragon,  in  great  State,  as  he  did  also  at  the  time  of 
his  nuptials  with  Anne  Bolcyn,  who  went  hence  to  Westminster  for  her  corona- 
tion. These  were  the  days  of  the  greatest  magnificence  and  State  pomp  which 
the  old  fabric  ever  witnessed,  a  brilliant  prelude  to  the  spectacle  of  dismal  horrors 
that  soon  after  ensued.  Then  commenced  the  reign  of  the  scaffold,  with  the 
impeacliment  and  execution  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  the  witty  Chancellor,  and 
of  the  ruthless  tyrant's  old  tutor.  Bishop  Fisher.  In  1536  came  the  cruel  end  of 
ill-fated  Anne,  the  Queen  ;  hut  the  list  of  victims,  with  their  stories,  is  too  lengthy 
to  be  treated  here.  At  the  King's  death,  in  1547,  his  son  was  escorted  to  the 
palace  in  the  Tower,  and  it  was  here  that  all  the  quarrels  and  troubles  occurred, 
ending  in  the  death  of  the  Lord  Protector  Somerset,  and  his  brother,  the  husband 
of  Queen  Katherine  Parr  {sec  Sudeley,  Gloi'CESTER),  and  of  their  friends. 
Then  came  the  episode  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  the  nine  days'  queen,  who  resided  in 
the  fortress  throughout  her  short  reign.  Queen  Mary's  triumphant  entry  into 
the  Tower  followed,  after  which  the  terrors  of  the  prison  commenced  anew. 
Aftei-  the  rebellion  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  Lady  Jane  and  her  husband  were 
sent  to  the  scaffold,  with  many  others,  in  February,  1554.  Thither,  upon 
Gardiner's  accusation,  came  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  prisoner  to  the  Tower  from 
her  retreat  at  Ashbridge,  and,  though  exonerated  by  W\att,  was  kept  in  durance 
for  some  months,  her  life  in  serious  peril  all  the  time.  Between  the  Bell  and 
Beauchamp  Towers  is  a  path  along  the  rampart  of  the  wall  whicli  is  still  called 
Queen  Elizabeth's  Walk. 

When  Elizabeth  succeeded  to  the  crown,  a  short  four  years  later,  she  at  once 
established  her  Court  at  the  Tower,  but  this  occupation  ceased  after  her  corona- 
tion, and  thenceforth  the  fortress  is  seldom  more  than  a  State  prison  ;  at  no  time, 
indeed,  m  its  history,  were  its  cells  more  constantly  occupied  than  during  the 
reign  of  this  Tudor  mistress.  Protestants  and  Catholics,  bishops  and  abbots, 
dukes,  earls,  and  knights,  Howards  and  Percies,  Raleigh  and  Essex— the  lists  of 
prisoners  are  curiously  long  and  impartial.  In  1585  Henry,  eighth  earl  of  North- 
umberland, who  had  been  incarcerated  on  account  of  Mary  Stuart,  was  found 
dead  in  his  room  in  the  Garden  Tower,  with  three  bullets  in  his  side,  and,  though 
declared  to  be  suicide,  his  death  was  more  probably  a  murder,  and  was  one  of 
those  tragedies  wliich  gained  for  the  scene  of  them  the  name  of  the  Bloody 
Tower. 


MIDDLESEX  113 

When  James  I.  came  to  tlic  tlironc  of  Enj^land  he  kept  liis  Court  in  the  Tower 
tor  a  sliort  time  only,  but  resorted  thither  occasionally  to  enjov  the  si^ht  of  wild 
beasts  fij^htin^,  or  being  bailed.  His  gaolers'  lists  were  full  enough  :  he  cruelly 
imjirisoned  his  cousin,  the  Lady  Arabella  Stuart,  who  was  kept  here  until,  losing 
her  reason,  she  died.  In  the  Tower,  too,  was  accomplished  the  murder,  by 
poison,  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  at  the  hands  of  King  James'  favourite,  Kobert 
Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset,  and  his  wife. 

The  differences  of  Charles  1.  with  his  Parliament  led  to  the  use  again  of  the 
Tower  as  a  State  prison,  and,  from  its  cells,  both  Strafford  and  Laud  went  to 
their  deaths.  At  the  Restoration,  Charles  II.,  like  so  many  of  his  predecessors, 
went  from  the  Tower  to  his  coronation.  In  the  same  year  when,  during  the 
Great  Fire,  a  change  of  wind  sa\ed  the  old  loi^tress  from  inuninent  peiil  of 
burning,  a  plot  was  discovered,  in  which  the  seizure  ot  it  was  planned  ; 
while  the  attempt  made  by  IJIood,  in  1671,  to  steal  the  regalia  from  the  iMartin 
Tower  is  interesting  among  the  many  crimes  here  committed,  so  systematically 
was  it  planned,  and  so  audaciously  carried  out. 

James  II.  did  not  observe  the  old  custom  of  occupying  the  Tower  before  the 
kingly  ceremony  at  Westminster,  and  frt)m  this  date  the  character  of  a  royal 
residence  no  longer  attaches  to  the  place,  no  Sovereign  in  later  days  having  lived 
there  ;  indeed,  the  removal  by  Cromwell  of  the  ancient  palace  in  the  S.E.  corner 
of  the  inner  ward  made  the  fortiess  iminhabitable  by  royalty. 

In  July,  1685,  was  landed  at  the  Traitors'  Gate  James,  Duke  of  Mcjnmouth, 
after  his  defeat  at  Sedgemooi',  and  his  execution  on  Tower  Hill  tollowed  shortly 
afterwards.  Three  years  later  the  committal  of  the  seven  prelates  to  the  Tower 
filled  up  the  measure  of  James'  iniquities  in  the  minds  of  the  peojile,  and  much 
advanced  the  Revolution  of  1689. 

Thus,  the  Tower  of  London,  no  longer — since  the  introduction  of  artillery — 
an  impregnable  fortress,  or  a  royal  dwelling,  preserved  only  its  remaining  use  as 
a  State  prison,  and  as  such  it  continued  to  be  occupied  in  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  the  Jacobite  insurrections  of  1715  and  1745,  once  more  filled  the  cells, 
and  gave  employment  to  the  headsman  and  the  hangman,  the  Lords  Derwent- 
water  and  Kenmure  being  the  principal  victims  of  the  former,  and  Kilmarnock, 
Halmerino  and  Lovat,  of  the  latter.  Then  the  block  was  seen  no  more,  save 
as  an  interesting  lelic  ;  but  prisoners  have  occasionally  been  immured  within 
the  Tower  since,  the  last  being  Sir  Francis  Hurdett,  during  the  riots  of  iXio, 
and  the  Cato  Street  conspirators  in  i(S20. 

mi  I.DINCS. 

The   entiance  to   the   Tower  of    London    is   through   a   gatehouse   called  the 

MilJDi.ii  Tower,  which  stands  on  the  counterscarp  of  the  ditch  at  its  S.W. angle, 

at  a  point  where  there  once  existed  a  baibican  and  tclc-dii-poiil,  with  a  small  moat 

of  its  own,  where,  in  after-times,  was  placed  the  royal  menagerie,  the  Sovereigns  of 

VOL.   I.  p 


,,^  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Enf^land  having  kept  here  lions  and  otlicr  wild  beasts,  since  the  Conquest,  until 
about  the  year  1830. 

Tliis  Middle,  or  St.  Martin's,  Tower,  is  perhaps  of  the  same  age  as  the  Byward, 
but  was  faced  with  Portland  stone  (temp.  Charles  II.).  It  is  a  strong  building,  with 
two  circular  flanking  towers,  the  gateway  between  them  being  formerly  defended 
by  a  double  portcullis.  The  towers  each  contain  two  floors  of  timber,  with  a  well 
staircase. 

This  gatehouse  gives  admission  to  the  bridge  of  130  feet  across  the  moat,  the 
last  20  feet  having,  in  old  times,  been  covered  by  a  drawbridge. 

We  then  enter  the  Byw.ard  Tower,  the  great  gatehouse  of  the  outer  ward, 
standing  on  the  escarp  of  the  moat,  and  forming  the  outer  S.W.  corner  of  the 
fortress,  with  its  two  drum  flanking-towers  rising  out  of  the  ditch  itself.  The 
passage  lies  through  a  low  archway,  defended  by  two  portcullises  and  heavy  gates. 
A  door  into  the  S.  turret,  on  the  ground-floor,  enters  an  octagonal  guardroom 
with  a  high  vaulted  and  ribbed  roof,  two  of  its  five  recesses  being  occupied  by 
the  door  and  a  fireplace,  and  the  others  having  loops.  The  N.  turret  is  similar, 
but  is  entered  from  a  lobby,  which,  from  its  window,  may  have  formed  an 
oratory.  Adjoining  this  is  an  outer  well-stair  leading  to  the  upper  rooms  ;  and 
attached  to  the  S.  turret  is  a  small  postern  which  has  a  bridge  over  to  the  quay, 
with  an  upper  storey  for  working  its  drawbridge. 

This  building  is  Perpendicular,  of  the  reign  of  Richard  II.     (Clark.) 

Entering  thus  the  outer  ward  in  its  S.  range,  we  pass  the  Bell  Tower  at  the 
S.W.  angle  of  the  inner  ward,  below  the  windows  of  the  lieutenant's  lodgings, 
and  come  to  the  main  gatehouse  of  the  inner  ward,  called  the  BLOODY  ToWER  ; 
this  unites  with  the  Wakefield  Tower,  formerly  called  the  Hall  Tower,  from 
its  proximity  to  the  great  hall  of  the  Palace,  which  was  entered  from  it.  It  is  a 
circular  building,  50  feet  in  diameter,  and  50  feet  high,  and  is  the  next  oldest 
part  to  the  keep.  It  had  formerly  three  floors,  but  now  has  only  two,  with  the 
basement.  This  chamber,  at  the  ground  level,  being  the  oldest  portion,  contains 
an  octagon  room,  with  four  large  recesses  having  loops,  now  made  into  windows, 
while  the  other  three  are  blank.  An  entrance  doorway  has  been  of  late  cut 
through  into  the  warders'  room  of  the  Bloody  Tower,  the  ancient  exterior  one 
being  walled  up.  Formerly  the  flooring  above  this  basement  was  of  timber  (per- 
haps the  work  of  Henry  III.),  supported  by  an  oaken  post  in  the  centre,  and  four 
others,  carrying  oaken  head-beams.  All  this  ancient  work  has  quite  recently 
been  removed  in  order  to  adapt  the  tower  for  holding  the  regalia,  to  sustain 
which,  on  the  higher  stage,  the  basement  has  received  a  heavy  octagonal,  vaulted 
roof  of  stone,  supported  by  a  large  stone  column  on  a  stone  base. 

In  this  chamber  were  penned  some  seventy  victims  of  the  Scottish  rebellion 
of  1745-61  under  such  treatment  as  to  air  and  food  that  more  than  one-half  of 
them  died. 

The  tower  itself  may  be  Late  Norman   of  Stephen  or  Henry  II.,  tlie  upper 


MIDDLESEX 


"5 


part  beinj4  added  by  Henry  III.  The  lirst  floor,  wliicli  now  contains  the  rej^aha, 
has  also  been  vaulted  ;  it  is  odaj^jonal  also,  and  has  a  lireplace  in  one  cjf  its 
recesses,  and  an  oratory  in  another,  in  which  is  a  piscina  ;  adjoining  this  recess  is 
visible  the  arch  of  the  great  entrance  to  the  ancient  hall  of  the  palace,  now 
blocked  up.  This  entrance  is  mentioned  in  the  Liberate  Koll  of  22  Henry  ill., 
where  there  is  ordered  "  a  good  and  lilting  partition  of  b(jards  between  the 
chamber  and  the  chapel  of  the  new  turret  near  the  King's  Hall  towards  the 
Thames."  After  the  reign  of  Henry  V'l.  it  was  called  tlie  Record  Tower,  but  on 
tlic  removal  of  the  records,  it  reverted  to  the  present  appellation,  which  is 
derived,  it  is  said,  from  the  immuring  here  of  prisoners  after  the  battle  of  Wake- 
field. Some  accounts  allege  the  murder  of  Henry  VI.  to  have  been  effected  in 
the  above-mentioned  oratory. 

The  Bloody  Tower,  or  as  anciently  named,  the  Garden  Tower,  has  been  lately 
closely  connected  with  the  Wakelield  by  a  stair  through  it  into  the  regalia 
chamber  of  the  latter,  the  old  well-staircase  being  cut  off  and  closed.  This 
tower  is  the  great  gatehouse  of  the  inner  ward,  and  lies  immediately  opposite 
to  the  Traitors'  Gate  entrance  under  St.  Thomas'  Tower  of  the  outer  ward.  It 
has  a  passage  38  feet  in  length,  with  a  portcullis  (still  existing)  in  a  groove 
at  the  S.  end,  and  a  groove  for  another  at  its  N.  end.  A  heavy  wooden  gate, 
partly  original,  closes  either  end  of  the  gateway,  which  is  vaulted  and  groined 
in  two  bays.  From  it  the  road  into  the  enceinte  rises  with  a  gradient  of  one 
in  ten,  to  the  foot  of  a  flight  of  steps  near  the  keep,  having  on  its  E.  side  the 
main  guard-house,  built  on  the  line  of  the  old  inner  palace  wall,  and  the  gate 
called  Cold  Harbour,  and  on  the  W.  the  letaining  wall  of  the  parade,  with  another 
staircase  leading  thereto.  Ascending  these  we  return  to  the  gatehouse  (where  is 
the  entrance  to  its  iirst-floi)r  chamber),  situated  at  the  end  of  the  small  herb  garden, 
which  formerly  occupied  the  corner  of  the  parade,  and  which  was  the  place 
where  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  used  to  walk.  The  room  over  the  gateway  has  the 
machinery  for  working  the  portcullis,  and  a  well-staircase  leads  to  the  upper 
storey,  the  room  of  which  has  its  S.  side  formed  into  a  passage  to  carry  the  walk 
of  the  ramparts  through  the  gatehouse.  This  is  the  room  which  tradition  gives 
."vs  the  scene  of  the  murder  of  the  two  princes  by  Richard  III.,  the  passage  being 
the  route  by  which  the  assassins  approached  their  slee]">ing  victims.  It  is  also 
the  apartment  where  Henry,  eighth  Earl  of  Northumberland  was  shot,  or  com- 
mitted suicide,  as  already  mentioned. 

This  gatehouse  is  attributed  to  Edwaid  III.,  but  mav  have  been  built  temp. 
Richard  11.,  the  whole  work  being  probably  between  the  Decorated  and 
Feipendicular  styles.     (Clark.) 

The  lieutenant's  lodgings  were  built  by  Henry  V'lll.,  against  the  S.  curtain 
wall  W.  of  the  gatehouse,  incorporating  the  Bell  Tower  and  extending  again 
some  distance  along  the  E.  curtain,  when  the  range  is  continued  by  other  houses 
almost  to  the  Beauchamp  Tower. 


,,6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

On  the  E.  of  the  lodgings  (whose  name  has  of  late  been  altered  to  that  of  the 
Queen's  House)  are  some  more  modern  dwellings,  erected  on  the  site  of  the 
garden,  which  formerly  gave  its  name  to  the  Gatehouse  Tower.  The  lieutenant's 
quarters,  which  are  now  inhabited  by  the  major  of  the  Tower  (representing  the 
constable),  contain  a  large  apartment  called  the  council  chamber,  wherein  the 
examination  of  the  conspirators  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot  was  held,  and  adjoining  it 
is  the  room  from  which  in  1716  the  Earl  of  Nithsdale  effected  his  escape,  by  his 
wife's  contriving,  the  evening  before  his  intended  execution. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  there  existed  an  underground  passage  communicating 
between  this  house  and  the  basement  of  the  White  Tower,  which  was  made  use 
of  in  proceeding  from  the  formal  examination  of  prisoners  to  the  further 
questioning  of  them  under  torture.  This  is  shown  in  the  Life  of  Father  John 
Gerard,  a  Jesuit  (by  John  Morris,  1881),  who,  being  hunted  down,  like  other 
Catholics  at  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  was  confined,  in  1597,  in  the  Salt 
Tower,  and  brought  next  morning  to  be  examined  in  this  council  chamber  by  the 
Lords  Commissioners,  who  were  the  Queen's  Attorney  General,  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  the  lieutenant,  Mr.  Thomas  Fleming,  and  William 
Waad,  or  Wade,  secretary  to  the  council  {see  "  P.  R.  O.  Domestic  Eliz.,"  vol.  cclxii. 

n.  123). 

Questit)ns  were  put  to  the  prisoner  touching  his  connections  with  other 
Catholics,  especially  with  Father  H.  Garnet,  and  on  his  refusal  to  give 
information,  the  order  for  his  torture  was  produced  and  given  him  to  read  ;  but  he 
persisted,  although  entreated  not  to  oblige  the  Commission  to  use  torture  which 
they  "are  bound  not  to  desist  from,  day  after  day,  so  long  as  life  lasted."  Father 
Gerard  was  still  obdurate,  and  then  recounts  :  "  We  then  proceeded  to  the  place 
appointed  for  the  torture.  We  went  in  a  sort  of  solemn  procession,  the 
attendants  preceding  us  with  lighted  candles,  because  the  place  was  underground 
and  very  dark,  especially  about  the  entrance."  Then  they  arrived  at  the  vaults  of 
the  White  Tower.  "  It  was  a  place  of  immense  extent,  and  in  it  were  ranged 
divers  sorts  of  racks,  and  other  instruments  of  torture.  Some  of  these  they 
displayed  before  me,  and  told  me  1  should  have  to  taste  them  every  one  ;  still 
refusing  to  satisfy  Ihcm,  they  led  me  to  a  great  upright  beam  or  pillar  of  wood, 
which  was  one  of  the  supports  of  this  vast  crypt." 

Here  they  hung  him  up,  by  placing  an  iron  gauntlet  on  each  hand,  and 
attaching  these  to  an  iron  rod  fixed  on  the  pillar  above  him,  whereby,  on 
removing  the  stool  on  which  he  stood,  he  was  suspended  by  his  wrists,  and  so 
being  a  big  and  very  heavy  man,  suffered  intense  agony,  the  five  Com- 
missioners standing  round  for  a  time,  and  pressing  him  with  questions.  Here 
he  was  allowed  to  hang  for  about  five  hours,  fainting  eight  or  nine  times 
from  the  pain.  At  about  five  o'clock  P.M.  Waad  returned  and  tried  again  to 
obtain  disclosures  from  him,  but  failing,  turned  away  in  a  rage  saying,  "  Hang 
there,   then,   till  you   rot."     At  five,   however,   when   the  bell  sounded  and  the 


MIDDLESEX  117 

Ci)mmissioneis  left  the  tower,  they  took  (Icnircl  clown,  liaidly  :ihle  to  stand,  and 
led  him  back  to  his  cell. 

Next  day  he  was  sumnioiied  aj^ain  to  the  lieutenant's  house,  wlierc  Waad  told 
him  that  he  had  come  from  the  Queen  and  Master  Secretary  Cecil,  who  knew 
that  Father  Garnet  had  been  meddlinj,'  in  political  matters,  and  demanded  to 
know  wliere  he  was.  Gerard  aj^ain  refused  to  declare,  whereon  Waad 
summoned  a  tall  and  commandinjj  figure,  whom  he  called  the  superintendent  of 
torture,  and  said:  "I  deliver  this  man  into  your  hands;  you  are  to  rack  him 
twice  to-day,  and  twice  daily  until  such  time  as  he  chooses  to  confess." 
Thereupon  they  descended  again  with  the  same  solemnity  to  the  torture  chamber, 
where  again  Gerard  was  subjected  to  the  gauntlets,  in  spite  of  his  swollen  wrists 
and  hands,  and  though  not  racked,  was  again  hung  up  until  he  fainted,  when  he 
was  with  difficulty  revived.  Then  the  lieutenant  pressed  him  to  declare  all  he 
knew,  which  he  refused  to  do,  saying  he  would  not  while  breath  remained  in 
hiin  ;  wlKTrnii  he  was  liung  up  again  for  the  tiiiid  tune,  lur  an  hour,  when  the 
lieutenant,  seeing  nothing  was  gained,  in  compassion  ordered  him  to  be  taken 
down. 

It  was  three  weeks  before  Father  Gerard  recovered  the  use  of  his  hands  at  all, 
and  more  than  five  months  before  the  sense  of  touch  returned  to  llieni.  Some 
more  of  his  story,  including  his  escape,  will  be  found  in  the  account  of  the  Salt 
Tower. 

This  long  episode  regarding  the  Jesuit  Father  Genud  may  be  excused  in  con- 
sideration of  the  proof  it  furnishes,  in  sulticient  detail,  by  the  mouth  of  a  victim, 
of  those  iniquitous  practices  which,  under  the  mask  of  l.iw,  were  perpetrated  at 
that  epoch,  and  which,  with  other  deadly  work,  gained  for  the  Tower  of  London 
such  terrible  associations  and  so  hideous  a  reputation. 

The  Bki.I.  To\V1-;i>;,  which  tonus  the  S.W.  angle  of  the  inner  ward,  is  150  feet 
from  the  gatehouse,  and  is  enclosed  in  the  Tudor  dwellings  last  mentioned.  It  was 
so  called  from  the  alarm  bell  which  once  hung  in  a  wooden  turret  on  its  summit, 
and  now  lies  in  the  upper  storey.  The  Articles  of  1607  declare  that  :  "  When  the 
Tower  bell  doolh  ring  at  nights  for  the  shutting  in  of  the  gates,  all  the  prisoners, 
with  their  servants,  are  to  withdrawe  themselves  into  their  chambers,  and  not  to 
goe  forth  for  that  night."  At  its  base  the  tower  is  octangular,  the  upper  20  feet 
being  cylindrical  ;  it  is  60  feet  in  height,  and  is  built  solid  for  10  feet  above  the 
ground  level,  where  lies  the  door  of  the  basement,  a  curiously  vaulted  chamber 
with  hve  bold  stone  ribs  rising  to  a  boss  in  the  apex  of  carved  stone,  and  having 
four  deep  recesses  with  loopholes.  The  upper  room,  whicii  is  reached  by  the 
usual  spiral  stair,  is  partlv  circular,  with  four  recesses  having  windows  which  once 
were  loops,  ami  there  is  a  long  passage  ending  in  a  garderobe  contrived  in  the 
wall.  The  tower  probably  dates  from  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  top 
has  a  brick  parapet  of  later  date,  and  from  below  this  there  was  a  door  on  the  S. 
leading  to  a  gatehouse,  once  crossing  the  S.  outer  ward  at  this  point,  and  another 


,i8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

giving  to  llie  ramparts  along  the  E.  curtain  wall  to  the  Beauchamp  Tower.  In 
the  lowest  of  these  rooms  was  confined  John  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  once 
tutor  to  Henry  VIII.,  an  old  man  of  seventy-eight,  for  opposing  Henry's  will  to 
disinherit  his  eldest  daughter,  Mary.  After  suffering  great  misery  and  discomfort 
he  was  beheaded  (June  1535),  being  scarcely  able  to  crawl  from  his  cell.  Sir 
Thomas  More,  Lord  Chancellor,  and  perhaps  the  first  Englishman  of  his  day, 
was  immured  at  the  same  time  and  for  the  same  reasons  in  the  upper  room 
of  this  tower  ;  he  was  beheaded  a  few  days  after  the  bishop.  It  is  said  that 
Queen  Mary  confined  her  sister  Elizabeth  in  this  tower,  and  the  rampart  path 
thence  to  the  Beauchamp  is  still  called  "  Queen  Elizabeth's  Walk  ; "  but  as  Mary 
was  then  living  at  Whitehall,  it  is  more  likely  that  her  sister  was  an  occupant  of 
the  palace  in  the  tower.  In  one  of  the  dwelling-rooms  close  to  this  tower  there 
was  discovered  in  1830  an  inscription  stating  that  on  June  21,  1565,  the  Countess 
of  Lennox  was  "  comettede  prysoner  to  thys  lodgjmge  for  the  marreage  of  her 
Sonne,  my  Lord  Henry  Darnle  and  the  Queue  of  Scotland." 

The  length  of  curtain  from  the  Bell  to  Beauchamp  Tower  is  138  feet  ;  it  is  10 
feet  thick  and  is  very  perfect,  and  has  the  rampart  on  top,  while,  below,  the  wall  is 
built  on  deep  piers  and  arches  with  loopholes  in  the  recesses.  Inside,  beyond  the 
lieutenant's  lodging,  the  houses  of  the  yeoman,  gaoler,  and  other  officials  are 
clustered  upon  this  old  wall,  which  dates  from  Edward  IV.  or  Richard  111.  The 
Be.\uchamp  is  probably  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  is  supposed  to  derive 
its  name  from  the  fact  that  Thomas,  Earl  of  Warwick,  was  imprisoned  in  it  in 
1397.  It  has  also  been  called  the  Cobham  Tower,  from  Lord  Cobham  and  his 
sons  having  been  confined  and  kept  here  by  Mary  after  the  insurrection  of 
Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  {see  CouLiNG,  Kent).  It  seems  to  have  been  used  more 
than  any  other  quarter  as  the  most  convenient  lodging  for  State  prisoners,  regard- 
ing whom  a  strong  interest  attaches  from  the  inscriptions  which  are  left  upon  its 
walls. 

This  tower  had  been  much  disfigured  by  additions,  both  inside  and  out,  but 
was  well  restored  in  1854,  though  the  propriety  of  adding  to  Beauchamp  inscrip- 
tions, many  of  which  were  removed  from  other  towers,  is  questionable.  It  is 
36  feet  in  diameter,  in  three  storevs,  the  middle  one  being  open  to  the  public  view, 
while  the  basement  and  the  upper  room  are  warders'  quarters.  The  rampart 
allure  is  carried  through  the  tower.  All  its  floors  are  of  timber,  and  there  is  a 
circular  staircase  to  the  top. 

P'rom  this  to  the  Devereix  Tower  is  a  length  of  148  feet ;  this  bastion  stands 
at  the  N.W.  angle  of  the  fortress,  and  had  an  old  name  of  the  Develin,  or  Robyn 
the  Devyll's  Tower,  until  after  the  confinement  in  it  of  Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of 
Essex,  the  favourite  of  Elizabeth,  in  1601.  It  is  almost  circular,  and  contains  two 
storeys  and  a  well  staircase.  The  basement  is  vaulted  and  groined,  and  is  iq  feet 
in  diameter,  with  walls  11  feet  thick ;  between  it  and  the  first  floor  is  an  entrance 
to  a  small  cell,  6  feet  by  3,  in  the  wall,  while  higher  up  is  the  opening  of  a  secret 


MIDDLESEX  119 

passai^e  in  the  wall  to  the  next  tower.  The  walk  of  this  bastion  may  he  Xoiinan, 
the  superstructure  is  modern.     (Clark.) 

The  next  tower  on  this  X.  lace  of  the  inner  ward  is  the  Fl.iNT,  at  a  distance  of 
90  feet ;  it  was  much  decayed,  and  was  taken  down,  at  the  beginninj^  of  the  present 
century,  nearly  to  the  ground  and  rebuilt  in  brick,  but  has  aj,'ain  been  built  partly 
in  stone.  On  both  sides  of  it  the  old  curtain  remains,  thouj^h  casemated  in  lecent 
times,  and  with  a  modern  parapet.  From  its  narrow  dungeons  it  was  called 
"  Little  Hell." 

P'rom  thence  to  the  BOWYER  TowER,  which  caps  the  salient,  is  90  feet ;  this 
is  half-round  in  plan,  :uid  45  feet  in  diameter,  and  prt)jects  45  feet.  It  was  fcirmerly 
the  lodging  of  the  master  provider  of  the  King's  Bows,  and  so  derived  the  name. 
Its  vaulted  basement  alone  is  original,  with  windows  in  substitution  for  loops,  and 
dates  probably  from  P2dward  III.  In  this  gloomy  chamber  it  is  said  that  the 
murder  of  George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  in  the  Malmsey  butt,  tocjk  place.  There  are 
in  it  two  recesses,  and  by  the  side  of  the  door  is  the  entrance  to  a  cell  in  the  wall 
or  a  secret  passage  to  the  next  tower.  Thegreat  fire  of  1841  originated  in  an  upper 
chamber  of  this  tower,  used  as  an  armourer's  shop. 

In  1858  nothing  remained  of  this  building  but  the  basement ;  therefore  the 
upper  part  is  wholly  new,  as  well  as  the  casing. 

Thence  62  feet  of  curtain  brings  us  to  the  BRICK  Tower,  called  in  1552  the 
Biiibridge.  It  is  shown  in  the  survey  of  1597  as  half-round,  with  a  circular  turret 
on  its  E.  flank,  containing  a  well-stair.  It  has  recently  been  rebuilt  from  the 
foundations,  and  is  now  in  horseshoe  foini,  projecting  36  feet  from  the  walls. 

The  Martin  Tower,  at  a  distance  of  65  feet  from  the  last,  forms  the  X.K. 
bastion  at  the  junction  of  the  N.  and  E.  faces.  It  was  once  called  the  Brick 
Tower,  and  until  recently  was  the  residence  of  the  keeper  of  the  jewels.  It  is 
of  irregular  circular  shape,  40  feet  in  diameter,  and  has  a  solid  base  for  14  feet. 

Until  about  the  year  1867,  when  the  Wakefield  was  fitted  up  for  their  recep- 
tion, the  Regalia  were  kept  in  this  tower  ;  and  here  it  was,  in  1673,  that  the 
attempt  was  made  by  Thomas  Blood,  which  so  nearly  succeeded,  to  steal  the 
crown  and  sceptre. 

In  Tudor  days,  the  Martin  was  used  as  a  prison,  and  as  the  name  of  Anne 
Boleyn  is  carved  on  a  wall,  it  is  probable  that  her  brother,  or  some  othei-  gentle- 
man, who  suffered  on  her  account,  was  immured  here.  This  tower  is  said  to  be 
haunted  by  the  Earl  of  Xorthumberland,  probably  Earl  Hem  y,  "  the  Wizard, "  who 
was  concerned  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot. 

At  102  feet  further  is  the  Constable,  a  tower  very  similar  in  |ilan  to  the 
Beauchamp,  and  also  used  as  a  prison.  It  has  recently  been  rebuilt  from  the 
foundations  in  a  half-round  form,  32  feet  in  diameter. 

The  next  is  the  Broad  Arrow,  at  a  length  again  of  102  feet.  As  there  are 
inscriptions  on  its  walls,  this  tower,  like  the  rest,  was  "a  prison  lodging." 

It  seems  to  be  of  early  date,  and  has  been  rebuilt  now  in  two  storeys  as  before, 


I20 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


tliL-  [xith  of  tlic  rampart  traversin.t;  the  upper  room.  This  is  "the  tower  at  the 
E.  end  of  the  Wardrobe,"  mentioned  in  1532,  as  it  adjoined  the  Wardrobe.  A 
spiral  stair  ascends  to  the  first  floor,  which  is  a  dismal  chamber,  having  three 
recesses,  and  by  the  side  of  the  door  leading  to  the  ramparts  is  a  small  cell  in  the 
wall  with  a  loop.  There  are  numerous  inscriptions  by  State  prisoners  of  the 
si.\teenth  century. 

The  origin  of  the  name  of  the  Salt  Tower,  which  is  placed  156  feet  from  the 
Broad  Arrow,  is  not  known  ;  in  the  survey  of  1532  it  is  called  Julius  Caesar's 
Tower,  and  is  undoubtedly  of  great  antiquity.  It  forms  the  S.E.  angle  of  the  inner 
ward,  and  is  a  circular  building  30  feet  in  diameter  and  62  feet  high,  in  three  stages. 
The  basement  is  a  pentagon,  vaulted  and  ribbed,  forming  five  deep  recesses  with 
a  loophole  in  each  ;  a  well-staircase  rises  from  this  to  the  leads,  giving  access  to  the 
two  rooms  above,  and  to  the  ramparts  a  little  above  the  first  floor  chamber,  which 
is  a  large  room,  having  five  recesses  now  fitted  with  windows.  There  is  on  its 
E.  side  a  good  Decorated  chimney  with  hood.  This  tower  was  the  meeting-place 
of  four  walls,  the  E.  curtain  of  the  ward  being  continued  S.,  across  the  outer  ward 
to  the  Well  Tower,  while  its  S.  curtain  also  crossed  from  the  Salt  to  the  outer 
wall,  each  of  these  crossings  having  gateways.  Until  of  late  years  this  tower  was 
hidden  behind  the  ordnance  storehouses  and  among  ignoble  sheds,  all  of  which 
have  now  been  removed,  while  the  old  tower  has  been  well  restored.  It  was 
constantlv  used  as  a  prison  lodging,  and  in  the  walls  of  the  rooms  are  many 
curious  inscriptions. 

The  Jesuit  Father  Gerard,  whose  experiences  of  the  torture  chamber  are  given 
in  connection  with  the  Lieutenant's  lodging,  was  confined  in  the  upper  room  of 
the  Salt,  and  from  it  he  escaped,  in  1597,  in  the  following  way.  A  Catholic 
gentleman  named  John  Arden  was  confined  at  that  time  in  the  Cradle  Tower 
of  the  outer  ward,  which  was  visible  from  the  Salt  across  a  small  garden 
belonging  to  the  palace  which  filled  the  triangular  space  between  the  Salt  and 
Lanthorn.  After  long  residence,  Gerard  prevailed  on  his  warder  to  let  him  visit 
this  friend  in  the  Cradle,  and  having  found  a  means  of  corresponding  with  friends 
outside,  by  writing  in  orange  juice,  he  obtained  from  them  a  fine  line  with  a 
leaden  weight  at  its  end.  It  was  then  arranged  that  on  a  certain  night  a  boat 
with  two  men  in  it  should  be  lying  in  the  river,  at  a  certain  hour,  opposite  the 
Cradle,  and  under  the  wharf  wall  which  bordered  the  outside  of  the  moat,  at 
which  time  Gerard  managed  to  linger  with  Arden  in  his  room.  At  the 
pre-arranged  hour,  they  slung  the  weight  over  the  moat  and  wall  on  to  the  wharf, 
where  a  strong  rope  being  attached  to  their  line  thev  hauled  it  over  to  the  Cradle 
roof  and  made  it  fast.  Then  Arden  first  descended,  or  rather  swarmed,  along  the 
rope,  which  was  nearly  level,  the  Cradle  being  a  low  tower,  and,  after  him  came 
Father  Gerard,  who  nearly  failed  from  the  difficulty  in  crossing  the  wharf  wall. 
However,  they  succeeded,  and  were  received  into  the  boat  and  taken  to  a  place  of 
safety,  whence  they  escaped  from  the  country. 


MIDDLESEX  121 

The  whole  of  tlie  royal  palace,  which  extended  t'lom  the  Wakefield  to  the 
Salt,  having  been  destroyed  by  Cromwell,  tliis  space  was  in  after  times  used  lor 
the  erection  of  enormous  and  frightful  storehouses,  to  build  which  the  Laxthorn, 
staiitliiig  between  W'akelield  and  Salt,  was  demolislied  ;  it  has  only  of  late  years 
been  rebuilt,  upon  its  old  foundations  and  its  cellar,  when  the  stores  were 
removed.  The  curtain  wall  westward  between  these  two  towers  seems  to  have 
been  removed  centuries  ago  when  the  Queen's  Gallery  was  built  along  the  same 
line.  This  gallery  contained  the  private  apartments  of  the  Queens,  and  was 
certainly  inhabited  by  Anne  Holeyn,  both  after  her  coronation,  and  during  her 
imprisonment  in  the  Towei^,  till  her  execution.  King  Henry's  roc^ms  were  in  the 
Lanthorn  Tower,  at  the  end  of  the  gallery,  and  from  this  tower,  which  has  quite 
recently  been  rebuilt,  extended  the  curtain  wall,  and  the  great  hall  at  its  rear,  up 
to  the  Wakefield.  The  cuitain  wall  heie  lia^  likewise  been  restored  of  late,  on 
the  ancient  design  of  piers  and  arches.  The  Lanthorn  was  a  Luge  round  tower, 
and,  it  is  said,  originalK'  had  a  sinall  tuiiet  inv  the  exliibition  of  a  light.  It  was 
biiint  in  17S.S  and  was  afterwards  removed.  Fiom  it  ;i  short  wall  witii  a  gateway 
crossed  the  outer  waid  to  a  tower  on  the  outer  wall,  which  has  now  quite 
vanished.     The  distance  from  Salt  to  Wakefield  is  343  feet. 

Xo  plan  exists  to  show  the  buildings  of  the  palace  accurately,  but  tiiey  were 
enclosed  on  the  W.  by  the  wall  running  up  to  the  Cold  Harbour  gatehouse,  at  the 
keep,  now  lost,  and  on  the  K.  by  a  range  of  buildings  extending  from  the 
Lanthorn,  northward,  to  the  Wandkoi'.!':  To\\i-;k',  which  stood  close  to  the  S.E. 
corner  of  the  keep,  and  of  which  a  small  portion  still  stands. 

The  outer  ward,  or  ballium,  which  encloses  the  inner  ward,  is  contained  by 
the  cuitain  springing  from  the  X.  flank  of  the  Byward  Tower,  already  mentioned, 
and  which  forms  the  escarp  of  the  ditch  in  a  straight  unbroken  line  as  far  as  the 
X.W.  outer  point  of  the  f()itrc-<s,  where  the  angle  with  its  X.  face  is  tilled  bv  a 
bastion  called  Legge's  Mount,  whose  front  forms  a  segment  of  a  circle  of  40  feet 
radius,  while  on  the  extreme  X.K.  angle  of  the  work  is  another  round-headed 
bastion  of  similar  form,  but  larger,  named  the  Hiass  Mount.  The  lower  part  of 
these  two  low  towers  is  of  the  same  age  as  the  walK,  but  their  upper  masonry  has 
been  built  in  modern  times,  and  they  are  both  casemated.  Almost  midway 
between  these  two  works  is  the  salient  of  the  fortress,  the  north  bastion,  a 
completely  new  fortification,  of  circular  trace,  with  three  tiers  of  casemates 
flanking  the  curtains  and  the  ditch  on  both  sides.  These  are  the  onlv  towers 
of  the  outer  ward,  excepting  those  on  the  S.  face  which  protect  the  river  front 
and  the  palace. 

I'he  towers  upon  this  S.  tace  are  four  in  number,  commencing  with  the 
Deveijn  at  the  S.E.  angle  of  the  fortress,  a  strong  rectangular  work,  built 
entirely  in  the  ditch  and  flanking  the  E.  curtain  wall  ;  temp.  Richard  II.  this  was 
called  "Galighinanes  Tower,"  and  it  has  generally  been  used  as  a  powder 
magazine  :  its  upper  storey  has  lately  been  rebuilt.  At  this  point  there  was,  in 
VOL.    I.  Q 


,22  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

1597,  an  embattled  dam  across  the  moat,  containing  sluices  to  control  the  moat 
waters,  and  endmg  at  the  counterscarp  in  a  small  work  called  the  Iron  Gate  (a 
name  which  still  adheres  to  the  place),  and  in  1641  the  tower  is  called  the  Iron 
Gate  Tower,  being  on  the  precincts  of  ■  St.  Katherine's  monastery.  It  was 
probably  built  by  Henry  III. 

Forty  feet  to  the  W.  of  this  tower  is  the  Well  Tower,  a  small  and  slightly 
projecting  square  building,  of  Early  English  architecture.  It  contains  a  vaulted 
chamber  at  almost  the  level  of  the  moat,  and  on  its  E.  side  is  a  well-stair 
leading  to  an  upper  room  at  the  level  of  the  ramparts,  to  which  a  door  gives 
access.  The  well  stands  due  S.  of  the  Salt,  and  was  connected  therewith  by  a 
gateway  and  a  defensible  wall,  part  of  which  still  remains. 

At  a  further  distance  of  118  feet  stands  the  Ckadle  Tower,  a  square  building 
of  moderate  size,  projecting  into  the  front  moat.  It  formed  the  private  gatehouse 
to  the  royal  palace,  in  front  of  which  it  stood.  A  vaulted  passage  is  carried 
through  its  centre,  having  a  portcullis  and  a  door  at  each  end,  and  on  either 
side  of  the  passage  is  a  vaulted  lodge  for  the  warders.  The  architecture  is 
Decorated,  and  may  be  of  late  Henry  III.  or  of  Edward  I.     (Clark.) 

In  front  of  the  tower  was  a  cradle,  or  drawbridge,  giving  access  across  the 
moat  to  the  quay,  and  the  drawing  of  1597  shows  it  to  have  been  a  water-gate, 
with  a  square  turret  on  the  \V.  side.  The  same  view  shows  on  the  W.  of  the 
cradle  a  large  tower  with  a  gateway  over  the  outer  ward,  connected  with  the 
Lanthorn  ;  of  this,  however,  there  are  now  no  traces. 

St.  Thomas'  Tower,  known  as  the  Traitors'  Gate,  was  the  water-gate  of  the 
Tower  of  London,  and  was  so  built  as  to  bestride  the  moat,  40  feet  wide, 
affording,  by  means  of  a  short  canal,  partly  arched  over,  a  communication  from 
the  Thames  to  the  interior  of  the  Tower. 

Under  this  rectangular  building  was  a  basin,  66  feet  long  bv  40  feet,  for  a 
barge  to  turn  and  lie  at  the  foot  of  a  flight  of  steps  from  the  water  up  to  the 
level  of  the  outer  ward,  only  10  yards  distant  from  which  was  the  gatehouse 
of  the  inner  court.  The  tower  stands  very  much  as  it  was  built  by  Henry  III., 
though  alterations  have  been  made  in  the  windows  and  other  points,  and  the 
whole  structure  was  carefully  restored  in  1866.  The  river  face  had  a  low  arched 
portal  defended  by  a  portcullis  and  a  pair  of  water-gates,  opening  inwards.  Over 
the  water-basin  below,  and  supporting  the  inner  face  wall  of  the  tower,  is  a 
curious  large  segmental  arch  of  clever  masonry,  61  feet  in  span,  the  voussoirs  of 
which  form  two  ribs,  those  of  the  lower  rib  being  joggled  together  with  much 
ingenuity.  It  was,  perhaps,  the  repeated  failure  of  this  fine  arch,  by  a  yielding 
of  the  abutments,  which  twice  brought  down  the  tower.  The  ends  of  the  river 
front  terminate  in  two  cylindrical  turrets,  while,  on  the  land  side,  the  ends 
of  the  tower  are  supported  by  two  square  turrets,  all  four  of  which  rise  above  the 
battlements.  A  mural  gallery  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall  runs  round  each  side 
of  the  building,  controlling  a  range  of  loopholes  on  either  flank. 


MIDDLESEX  123 

The  two  circular  turrets  each  contain  four  beautiful  octagonal  cells,  the  upper 
one  on  the  S.E.  having  been  an  oratory,  and  containing  a  piscina.  The  X.E. 
square  tower  had  on  each  floor  a  door  communicating  with  a  passage  into  the 
Wakefield,  and  the  upper  one  has  of  late  been  thus  connected  by  means  of  an 
arch  across  the  outer  ward,  in  order  that  the  Jewel  Chamber  may  be  privately 
accessible  to  the  keeper  of  the  jewels,  whose  residence  is  now  in  St.  Thomas' 
Tower. 

The  distance  hence  to  the  Byward,  or  entrance  gatehouse,  is  160  feet. 

The  WiiiTK  ToWKR,  or  Keep,  must  be  regarded  as  the  central  gem,  of  which 
the  concentric  buildings  which  we  have  been  describing  form  the  setting.  It 
stands  somewhat  out  of  the  centre  of  the  iimc-i  waid,  and  is  a  rectangular  building, 
in  three  storeys,  118  feet  in  length  E.  and  \V.,  and  107  N.  and  S.,  rising  to  a 
height  of  90  feet  at  the  battlements.  The  corners  are  strengthened  with  bold 
pilasters  on  e.ich  face,  as  are  the  middle  spaces  of  the  curtains  ;  three  of  these 
corners  are  carried  up  in  sijuare  turicts,  while  that  at  the  X.E.  forms  a  huge  pro- 
jecting circular  tui  ret,  with  a  broad  circular  staircase  from  base  to  roof.  From 
the  S.E.  corner,  the  E.  wall  has  a  large  rounded  projection,  the  whole  height  of 
the  building,  which  affords  the  apse  to  the  chapel  of  St.  John.  The  walls  are 
from  4  to  5  yards  in  thickness,  and  the  fabric  is  divided  into  two  unequal  parts  by 
a  wall  10  feel  thick,  running  N.  and  S.,  from  foundations  to  roof,  in  the  manner  of 
other  Xorman  keeps,  the  E.  portion  being  again  divided  by  a  wall  into  two  rooms 
on  each  floor.  Originally,  these  floors  were  all  of  timber,  supported  by  ranges  of 
timber  c(jlunins  bearing  heavy  oak  joisting,  laid  closely  from  wall  to  wall;  but 
when  Sir  Christopher  Wren  modernised  and  destroyed  the  fine  medi;eval  archi- 
tecture of  the  keep,  heavy  brick  vaults  were  built  over  the  lower  basements.  The 
sub-crypt  beneath  the  great  chapel  has  always  had  the  name  of  Lilllc  East',  and  as 
we  have  seen  from  the  Life  of  Father  Gerard,  a  part  oi  the  basement  storey  was 
given  up  for  the  purposes  of  a  torture  chamber. 

On  the  second  stage,  the  rooms  resemble  those  of  the  basement  in  plan,  and 
were  lighted  by  loops,  now  converted  into  windows,  the  chief  space  being 
appropriated  as  a  store  of  spare  arms.  In  the  crypt  of  the  chapel  there  is  a  recess, 
10  feet  by  8,  contrived  in  the  thickness  of  the  side  wall,  which  was  used  as  a 
prison  cell,  and  on  either  side  of  the  entrance  to  it  are  inscriptions  by  prisoners. 
At  the  end  of  the  apse  is  another  cell,  which  tradition  has  assigned  to  Raleigh 
as  one  of  his  prisons. 

The  third  stage,  or  second  floor,  has  three  chambers  also,  the  large  one  on  the 
W.  side,  measuring  95  feet  long  bv  40  wide,  being  the  great  Banqueting  Hall.  At 
the  S.E.  is  the  superb  chapel  of  St.  John— one  of  the  purest  and  most  perfect 
specimens  of  Norman  church  architecture  in  the  country — the  apse  ol  which  is 
projected  boldly  beyond  the  E.  wall  of  the  keep.  The  chamber  on  the  E.  side, 
from  which  entrance  is  given  to  the  chapel,  was  in  ancient  times  the  seat  of  the 
Court  of  Kmg's  Bench  ;  it  measures  O4  feet  by  32.     At  this  floor,  m  the  X.W.and 


124  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

S.W.  angles,  commence  the  well-stairs  to  the  roof,  the  latter  one  descending 
also  to  about  15  feet  above  ground  level,  and  above  leading  to  a  mural  passage 
which  enters  the  S.  aisle  of  the  chapel,  thus  aftording  a  private  approach  from 
the  palace  to  the  chapel  and  State  rooms  of  the  keep.  It  was  below  the  foot  of 
this  stair  that,  in  tlie  time  of  Charles  II.  were  found  the  bones  of  King  Edward  V. 
and  his  young  brother,  which  were  removed  to  Westminster  Abbey.  On  this 
second  floor  were  confined  Bishop  Flambard,  Prince  Griffin,  and  later— after 
Agincourt — the  Duke  of  Orleans.  Here,  also,  John  Baliol,  who  lost  his  crown  at 
the  battle  of  Dunbar,  was  allowed,  for  six  months,  to  keep  up  a  regal  state. 

The  fourth  stage,  or  third  floor,  contained  the  State  apartments,  the  room  on 
the  \V.,  over  the  hall,  being  the  council  chamber,  the  E.  wall  of  which  had  three 
openings  into  the  lesser  chamber  on  that  side.  The  walls  of  the  chapel  rise 
through  this  floor  to  the  roof,  but  contain  at  this  level  a  mural  passage  running 
round  the  chapel  with  a  triforium,  wherein  the  Sovereign  could  attend  the  services 
in  private.  It  was  from  this  council  chamber  that,  at  Richard  of  Glo'ster's 
bidding,  Lord  Hastings  was  dragged  to  sudden  execution  on  the  green. 

The  roof  of  the  White  Tower  is  almost  flat,  and  was  in  Tudor  times  adapted  as 
a  platform  for  guns.  The  great  round  turret  at  the  N.E.  angle  is  said  to  have 
formed  the  prison  of  the  beautiful  maiden,  Maud  FitzW'alter,  the  victim  of  King 
John,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  the  fatal  egg  was  given  her  here.  In  later  times  the 
turret  was  fitted  up  as  an  observatory,  and  was  thus  used  by  the  astronomer 
Flamsteed,  a  contemporary  of  Newton. 

The  original  entrance  to  the  White  Tower  must  have  been  by  an  outside  stair- 
case, probably  with  a  drawbridge,  to  the  second  floor,  whence  the  different  rooms 
were  approached  by  such  a  labyrinth  of  passages  and  stairs  that  access  to  them 
might  be  easily  defended  or  stopped. 

The  Chapel  of  St.  Peter  ad  Vincula  on  the  Tower  Green  is  the  only  ancient 
structure  which  remains  to  be  noticed.  A  large  amount  of  the  gloomy  interest 
attached  to  the  Tower  centres  here,  since  within  its  walls  lie  the  remains  of  so 
many  illustrious  personages  executed  in  front  of  it,  or  upon  Tower  Hill,  in 
obedience  to  the  will  of  a  succession  of  ruthless  kings  and  queens  of  England,  or 
of  the  temporary  wielders  of  authority  of  State. 

An  original  church  or  chapel,  built  perhaps  by  Henry  I.,  and  dedicated  to  the 
same  saint,  existed  within  the  precincts  of  the  Tower  long  before  the  present  build- 
ing was  founded  by  Edward  I.,  but  the  site  of  it  is  not  certain.  It  had  two 
chancels,  one  dedicated  to  the  B.V.M.  and  one  to  St.  Peter,  and  it  is  respecting 
the  decoration  and  fitting  of  these  that  Henry  III.  gives  the  minute  instructions 
recorded  in  the  Liberate  Roll  of  1240.  The  present  church  is  a  very  plain  one, 
consisting  of  a  nave  and  chancel  and  one  side  aisle,  separated  by  a  row  of 
good  stone  columns  with  low  pointed  arches.  It  underwent  from  time  to  time 
considerable  alterations,  especially  after  a  lire  that  occurred  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII. 


MIDDLESEX  125 

Edwiircl  111.  in;idc  the  chapel  into  ;i  sort  of  coUcyiate  cinirch,  app<jiiUin;j 
three  chaplains  to  its  service,  and  it  was  free  from  all  episcopal  jurisdiction  until 
temp.  EcKvarcl  \'l.,  wlien  it  was  included  in  the  diocese  of  London.  There  is 
now  a  chaplain  with  lodginj^s  and  ;^ii5  a  year,  and  daily  service,  to  which  the 
public  are  admitted,  is  held  for  the  j^arrison. 

The  iiitere--l  attaching  to  this  church  is  mainly  due  to  its  being  the  depository 
of  the  mouldering  remains  of  many  very  great  historical  personages,  whose  head- 
less trunks  were  laid  here  in  peace  after  their  sufferings.  Beginning  only 
from  Henry  X'lll.'s  reign:  hither  were  brought  the  mangled  bodies  of  old 
Bishop  Fisher,  and  of  the  great  and  witty  Chancellor,  Sir  Thomas  More  ;  of  the 
unfortunate  Catherine  Howard,  and  of  the  other  fair  e|ueen,  Anne  Boleyn, 
hustled  into  an  arrow  chest,  and  of  her  brother,  Lord  Rochford  ;  of  Margaret, 
Countess  of  Salisburv,  the  last  of  the  roval  line  ot  I'lantageiiet  ;  of  Cromwell,  the 
tool  of  the  tyrant ;  of  the  Protector  Somerset  and  his  brother,  the  Lord  High 
Admiral  ;  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  his  son  ;  of  the  two  Essexes  ;  and  of  the 
handsome  son  of  Charles,  |ames,  Uuke  of  Monmouth  ;  and.onlvone  hundred  and 
fifty  years  ago,  of  the  three  Jacobite  lords,  Balmerino,  Kilmarnock,  and  the  aged 
Lovat.  "  In  truth,"  writes  ALicaulay,  "  there  is  no  sadder  spot  on  the  earth  than 
that  little  cemetery.  Death  is  there  associated  ....  with  whatever  is  darkest  in 
human  nature  and  in  human  destinv,  with  the  savage  trimnph  of  implacable 
enemies,  with  the  inconstancy,  the  ingratitude,  the  cowardice  of  friends,  with  all 
the  miseries  of  fallen  greatness  and  of  blighted  fame." 

Until  comparatively  late  years  the  ground  E.  of  this  church,  between  the 
White  Tower  and  the  barrack,  was  used  as  a  graveyard  conunon  to  all  the  inmates 
of  the  Tower. 


HERTFORD 


Ibertforbsbire 


BENINGTON   {non-cxisteut) 

GOUGH  informs  us  that  at  Benington  was  a  palace  of  the  Mercian 
kings.  The  manor  of  Benington  was  conferred  hy  the  Conqueror 
on  Peter  de  Valoignes,  whose  descendant,  an  heiress  named 
Gunnora,  brought  it  in  marriage  to  Robert  FitzWalter,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  11.  (temp.  Edward  1.)  ;  it  was  claimed  and  held  by  Alexander 
de  Baliol,  who,  in  32  Edward  I.,  granted  the  manor  and  castle  to  John  de 
Benstede,  and  that  family  held  the  property  until  1488. 

There  seem  to  be  no  particulars  regarding  the  demolition  of  the  castle. 
North  of  the  church  is  a  circular  mound  of  earth,  surrounded  by  a  deep  trench, 
on  the  upper  part  of  which  are  the  vestiges  of  an  ancient  castle,  built  of  flints 
embedded  in  a  hard  calcareous  cement.   This  was  probably  the  site  of  the  manor- 
house,  and  appears  to  be   of  great   antiquity.     There  was  a   park   for  deer   in 


HERTFORDSHIRE  127 

remote  times,  and  it  is  possihlt-  tliat  tliis  castle,  like  that  of  Kiiepp,  in  Sussex,  and 
others,  existed  for  then  protection,  and  for  the  purposes  of  sport.  Sport  was  then, 
however,  of  secondaiy  consideration  ;  the  preservation  of  animals  as  j^ame, 
such  as  deer  and  wild  swine,  was  quite  necessary  with  royalty  and  tlie  nobles,  wlio 
had  a  multitude  of  retainers  and  dependents  to  be  constantly  provided  for,  as 
there  existed  no  re^^ular  supply  of  meat  food  at  maikets,  and  this  depended  on 
skill  in  the  chase,  just  as  in  patiiarchal  times,  or  as  in  Sontii  Africa  at  the  present 
day.  So  we  lind  our  early  N'orman  kinf,'s  keepinj^  larj^e  estaiilislniients  of  dogs, 
with  huntsmen  and  other  ot^cers,  as  was  the  case  at  Knepp  Castle,  and  the 
produce  of  their  hunting  was  salted  and  dried,  and  transmitted  to  furnish  the  royal 
lables  wherever  reciuirecl.  In  like  maiuier,  the  ;il)bots  and  bisho|-)s  in  early  times 
were  forced  to  ha\'e  theii'  j^arks  and  theii'  hunting  establishments. 

B  E 1^:  i<  H  A  M  S  T  E  A  D  {luhior) 

THE  situation  of  this  place  is  said  by  Stukeley  to  correspond  with  the  Roman 
station  of  Durocohriva- ;  tiicn  it  became  a  seat  of  the  kings  of  Mercia,  and  it 
is  bv  tradition  the  scene  of  the  great  council  held  by  King  WihthrcL'de  in  A.D.  697, 
where  many  new  Saxon  laws  were  passed.  In  1066,  after  the  Battle  of  Senlac,  or 
Hastings,  Uuke  William,  having  crossed  the  Thames  at  Wallingford,  proceeded  to 
Berkhamstead,  and  halted  there  to  receive  an  English  deputation  headed  by  the 
yEtheling  Edgar,  the  rightful  heir  to  the  Crown,  with  the  Earls  Edwin  and 
Morcar,  and  Aldrcd,  Archbishop  of  \'iiik,  and  others.  Thence,  alter  the  exchange 
of  fair  promises  on  both  sides,  William  advanced  to  Westminster,  where  Aldrcd 
performed  the  coronation  ceremony.  In  the  disaffection  which  sprang  up  shortly 
after,  Frederick,  Abbot  of  St.  Albans,  opposed  the  claims  of  the  new  King,  who  at 
once  resolved  to  go  to  St.  Albans  ;  but  the  bold  abbot  hindered  his  march  by 
felling  trees  across  the  road,  and  at  the  conference  which  ensued  induced  the  King 
to  swear  on  the  abbey  relics  that  he  woidd  keep  to  the  old  laws  of  the  country. 
This  oath  being,  of  course,  at  once  broken,  the  partition  of  England  amongst  the 
Norman  followers  of  the  Conqueror  was  commenced,  when  lierkhamstead  was 
granted  bv  him  to  his  half-brother  Robert,  Earl  of  Mortaigne,  or  Moreton,  who 
obtained  793  manors  in  various  counties,  and  was  created  Earl  of  Cornwall. 
Camden  says  it  was  he  who  built  this  castle  ;  that  is,  he  probably  erected  a 
Norman  stone  keep  on  the  Saxon  biirh. 

His  son  and  successor,  William,  claimed  from  Henry  I.  his  uncle  Bishop  Odo's 
earldom  of  Kent,  and  getting  an  adverse  decision,  took  up  arms  against  the  King 
in  Normandy,  when  he  was  at  once  deprived  of  his  earldom  and  possessions  by 
Henry,  his  cousin,  who,  on  gelling  liini  into  his  power  two  years  later,  caused  his 
eyes  to  be  put  out,  and  banished  him  from  the  realm.  The  Castle  of  Berkliamstead 
was  razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  forfeited  title  conferred  on  Stephen,  Count  of 
Blois,  afterwards    King  of    England.     Tiie   manor  was  given   by  Henry  to  Ills 


128  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Chancellor,  Kandulph,  who  is  said  to  have  rebuilt  the  castle,  and  to  have  then 
invited  the  Kin<i  to  visit  it ;  on  which  occasion,  according  to  Henry  of  Huntingdon, 
an  extraordinary  occurrence  took  place :  Randuiph,  while  conducting  Henry  to 
the  castle,  and  pointing  out  to  him  with  much  elation  the  fabric  he  had  reared, 
fell  off  his  horse,  and  was  ridden  over  by  a  monk,  whereby  he  received  such 
injuries  that  he  died  a  few  days  after. 

Henry  II.  granted  the  custody  of  this  castle  to  a  priest  then  rising  to  great 
eminence  at  his  Court,  namely  Thomas  a  Becket,  after  whose  death  Berkhamstead 
was  used  by  this  King  as  his  favourite  abode,  and  the  Court  was  held  here 
frequently. 

King  John  made  this  the  jointure-palace  of  his  Queen  Isabella,  but  in  120O 
bestowed  the  place  on  one  of  his  most  powerful  barons,  Geoffry  P'itzPiers,  Earl 
of  Esse.x,  to  whom  succeeded  his  son  John,  Chief  Justice  of  Ireland,  and  either 
this  man  or  his  father  may  have  built  the  existing  walls  there.  During  the  civil 
war  which  followed  the  signing  of  Magna  Charta  John  caused  this  castle  to  be 
strengthened,  and  with  effect,  for,  when  the  Dauphin,  Louis  (who  had  married 
John's  niece,  the  Princess  Blanche),  came  against  Berkhamstead,  after  the  capture 
of  Hertford,  he  made  no  impression  on  it,  and  only  obtained  possession  when  the 
garrison  were  ordered,  after  the  death  of  King  John,  to  surrender  it.  When 
the  Krcnch  had  to  leave  the  country  the  place  again  became  royal 
propertv. 

Richard,  the  younger  son  of  King  John,  was  created  Earl  of  Cornwall  11  Henry 
111.,  and  succeeded  to  these  lands  and  castle  of  his  mother  Isabella.  His  second 
wife,  Isabel,  widow  of  the  puissant  Gilbert  de  Clare,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  died  here 
in  childbed,  as  did  likewise  his  third  wife  in  1261,  four  years  after  he  had  been 
crowned  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  by  the  empty  title  of  King  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
as  Germany  was  then  called.  He  died  here  in  1272,  and  on  the  death  of  his  son 
Edmund,  the  second  earl,  s.p.,  the  Castle  and  Honour  and  town  reverted  to  King 
Edward  I.,  his  cousin,  who  gave  it  all  in  dower  to  his  second  queen,  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Philip,  King  of  France.  Edward  II.  bestowed  the  place  on  his 
worthless  favourite.  Piers  Gaveston,  who  was  here  married  to  the  King's  niece, 
with  great  festivities  at  whicli  Edward  assisted ;  and  after  his  fall  William 
Moiitacute  and  John  de  la  Haye  enjoyed  possession. 

The  reign  of  Edward  III.  brought  good  times  to  Berkhamstead,  since  this 
King  chose  it  as  his  chief  place  of  residence,  while  Windsor  was  yet  a-building, 
and  large  sums  were  expended  in  placing  it  in  proper  order  for  the  King  and  his 
Court.  The  early  years  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince  were  passed  here,  and  he 
received  from  his  father  the  Castle  and  Honour  and  the  park  of  Berkhamstead 
when  created  Duke  of  Cornwall,  ever  since  which  far-off  time  the  place  has  been 
included  in  that  Duchy.  Berkhamstead  indeed  gave  the  title  of  Marquess  to  the 
late  King  of  Hanover.  Hither  they  brought  the  captive  King  John  of  France  on 
his  removal  from  Somerton  (Lincoln,  cj.v.).     After  his  retirement  from  the  French 


HEKTl'ORDSHIRE 


129 


yy)^^ 


V 


'V 


wars,  the  Black  Prince  came  to  live  here,  and  here  he  was  seized  with  an  illness, 
accompanied  with  fits,  which  caused  his  death  in  1376. 

The  castle  then  passed  to  his  son,  afterwards  Richard  11.,  dnrinjj  whose 
lifetime  Robert  de  Vere,  Duke  of  Ireland,  was  allowed  to  occupy  Berkhamstead. 
At  his  elevation  to  the  throne,  Henry  IV.,  lived  here  with  his  family,  in  the  early 
years  of  his  reign,  and  it  was  here  that  he  kept  in  durance  the  two  Mortimer 
boys,  whom  he  so  closely  guarded  ;  one 
of  tlicm,  Edmund,  Earl  of  March,  hav- 
ing been  acknowledged  by  Richard  11. 
as  heir  to  the  Crown. 

The  castle  formed  the  retreat  of 
Cicely  Neville,  Duchess  (if  \'nrk,  tiic 
mother  of  Edward  IV.  and  Richard  ill., 
and  the  latter  monarch  is  said  in  have 
been  hm  11  here.  This  august  lady,  once 
called  "the  Rose  of  Raby,"  lived  long 
here,  and  died  in  1496,  as  Lord  Bacon 
writes,  "at  her  castle  of  Berkhamstead, 
being  of  extreme  years,  and  who  had 
lived  to  see  three  princes  of  her  body 
crowned,  and  four  murdered  ;  she  was 
buried  at  Eoderingham  (Fotheringhay) 
by  her  husband." 

During  the  greater  part  of  this  fright- 
ful era  of  our  history  she  lived  in  Berk- 
hamstead Castle,  which,  from  her 
sorrows,    acquires    a    somewhat    tragic 

memory.  Shakespeare  has  given  her  a  promiiuiit  pai  1  in  the  jiiav  of "  Richard  III." 
The  beautiful  daughter  of  Ralpli  Xeville,  Earl  of  Westmorland,  she  was  by  her 
mother,  Joan  Beaufort,  the  grandchild  of  John  of  Gaunt,  and  by  her  marriage 
with  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  united  the  two  rival  houses  in  her  own  person  ; 
ten  years  before  her  death  the  rival  claims  of  the  Red  and  the  White  Rose  had 
been  merged  in  the  new  dynasty  of  Tudor.  After  the  death  of  this  royal  lady  the 
castle  lay  untenanted  and  therefore  a  prey  to  decay,  for  we  have,  forty  years  later, 
the  following  testimony  from  Leland  regarding  it  : 

"At  Ik-rkliamstede  is  an  old  large  castelle  in  a  roote  of  an  hille  stonding  sum 
what  low,  and  environid  with  a  mote,  to  the  which,  as  1  coukle  perceyve,  part  of 
the  water  of  the  ryver  there  hard  by  doth  resorte.  1  markid  dyverse  towers  in 
the  midle  warde  of  the  castelle,  and  the  dungeon  hille.  But  to  my  sighte  it  is 
much  in  ruinc.  The  house  of  Bonehomes,  cauUid  Asscheruge,  of  the  funda- 
tion  of  Edmunde  (2nd)  Erie  of  Cornewale,  and  owner  of  Berckhamstede 
Castel,  is  about  a  mile  of,  and  there  the  King  lodgid."  The  King  here 
VOL.    I.  K 


■^ 


BERKHAMSTEAD 

E. 

Keep  on  Mound.        11.    Outer  Moat. 

F. 

Inner  Ward.                 K.     Bastions  of  Outer 

G. 

Inner  Moat.                            Rampart. 

ijo  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

mentioned  is  Henry  VIII.;  and  the  castle,  we  may  assume,  was  not  in  a  fit 
state  to  receive  him. 

So  the  wreck  went  on  till  Queen  Elizabeth  granted  the  place,  at  the 
nominal  rent  of  a  red  rose  annually,  to  Sir  Edward  Gary,  who  out  of  the  ruins  to 
which  it  had  been  reduced,  built  his  once  huge  mansion  of  Berkhamstead  Place 
on  the  summit  of  the  overstanding  hill.  Berkhamstead  is  now  held  by  Ear! 
Brownlow,  under  the  Duchy. 

At  the  N.E.  end  of  Castle  Street  are  to  be  seen  the  remains  of  the  old 
structure,  standing  on  a  chalk  foundation  in  a  marshy  level  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Bulborne  stream,  and  now  in  close  proximity  to  the  Grand  Junction  Ganal 
and  the  London  and  N.W.  Railway,  which  latter,  with  the  main  road,  passes 
between  the  castle  and  the  town.  There  is  now  little  to  see  but  the  earthworks  : 
these  consist  first  of  the  ancient  English  burh,  the  circular  mound  60  feet  high, 
and  40  in  diameter  at  top,  with  steep  sides  and  encircled  by  a  wet  ditch  ;  then  on 
the  summit  are  the  foundations  of  the  circular  keep,  about  8  feet  thick,  and 
connected  with  the  other  buildings  by  a  piece  of  wall  remaining  on  the  slope. 
The  inner  ward  is  oval  in  form,  measuring  500  feet  N.  and  S.,  and  300  E.  andW., 
surrounded  by  a  wall  of  which  three-fourths  exists,  20  feet  in  height,  which  has 
been  crenellated,  and  on  the  \V.  side  of  which  is  the  fragment  of  a  mural  tower ; 
there  are  also  two  pieces  of  cross  walls,  relating  to  the  castle  buildings.  The 
opening  of  the  entrance  gateway  at  the  S.  end  can  be  traced,  but  the  towers  of 
tiiis  have  quite  disappeared  ;  all  that  remains  of  masonry  is  of  chalk-flint  rubble 
which  may  be  Norman  work,  all  the  ashlar  and  dressed  stone  having  been 
removed  by  the  Garys.  The  whole  is  surrounded  by  a  deep  and  broad  moat, 
double  on  the  X.W.,  and  triple  elsewhere,  and  outside  the  first  moat,  running 
around  three  sides  northwards,  is  a  curious  line  of  double  embankments 
defended  by  its  own  ditches  and  by  a  range  of  earthen  bastions,  flanking  the 
exterior  on  all  sides  except  at  the  gorge  on  the  S.,  which  was  probably  defended 
by  a  strong  palisading  (Clark). 

The  ancient  entrance  was  on  the  town  side,  probably  over  a  causeway  through 
the  easily  flooded  low  grounds,  and  the  remains  of  the  grand  entrance  leading 
uito  the  inner  ward  are  still  traceable.  Within  this  enceinte  were  the  lodgings, 
the  hall  and  offices,  and  the  chapels,  of  which  no  less  than  three  are  mentioned, 
but  nothing  of  all  this  remains.  Then  on  the  N.E.  quarter  was  the  Derne-gate 
leading  over  three  several  drawbridges  into  the  park.  The  entire  works  cover  an 
area  of  about  eleven  acres. 

In  the  Record  Ofiice  exists  a  survey  of  this  castle  taken  11  Edward  111.,  when, 
on  the  death  of  Prince  John,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  Grown  assumed  possession  ; 
m  this  it  IS  stated  that  the  outer  gate  and  barbican  were  entirely  in  ruins  at  that 
time,  as  also  "  the  tower  of  the  lower  gate,"  which  required  a  new  staircase.  A 
great  tower  towards  the  E.  with  two  turrets  is  spoken  of,  and  two  towers  between 
the  Derne-gate  and  the  great  entrance  on  the  W.  side,  as  also  "the  great  painted 


HERTFORDSHIRE  131 

chainbcr"  and  "the   great  chapel"  and  otlier    buildings   are  therein  noted  for 
repair. 

I ;  I  S  I  I  ()  P S    S T O  K T  I<X )  I-J I )   ( non-existent) 

Willi,!-:  lie  held  this  town  the  Coniiueror  Iniilt  a  small  castle,  or  keep, 
(Ml  a  high  artificial  nionnd  of  earth,  which  must  have  existed  in  Saxon 
times,  in  the  meadows  lying  between  the  town  and  the  village  of  Hockerill  on  the 
E.,  called  Wayfemore  Castle.  This  castle  he  gave  to  the  IJishops  of  London, 
from  whence  the  place  had  its  surname. 

King  John,  in  resentment  against  Bishop  William  dc  M.iria,  who  had  been 
instrumental  in  the  laying  of  England  under  Papal  interdict,  destroyed  the  castle, 
but  he  was  afterwards  ol>ligcd  to  make  compensation  to  the  bishop,  and  gave  him 
his  manor  of  Stoke  near  Guildford  in  substitution. 

The  castle  contained  a  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  I'aul.  There  was  a  dungeon, 
called  "the  Bishop's  Hole,"  used  as  an  ecclesiastical  prison,  last  used  by  Bishop 
Bonner,  and  also  called  the  "Convicts'  Prison,"  out  of  which,  in  Queen  Mary's 
time,  one  of  the  prisoners  was  taken  and  burnt  on  a  green  called  "  Goose- 
meat, "  near  the  road  from  Stortford  to  Hockerill. 

There  remain  now  only  some  flint-built  walls  upon  the  mound,  all  besides  has 
disappeared. 

HERTFORD    {minor) 

EIAV.ARD  THE  ELDER,  second  son  of  the  great  Alfred,  when  commencing 
iiis  crunpaign  against  the  Danes  in  912,  laid  hold  of  a  ford  over  the  river 
Lea,  in  order  to  protect  the  approaches  to  London  and  the  southern  counties,  and 
there  raised  two  mounds,  one  on  the  X.  bank,  between  the  little  affluents,  the 
Maran  and  the  Beane,  and  another  on  the  S.  side  of  the  Lea,  crowning  them  with 
the  customary  Saxon  "  castles"  and  stockades  of  wood  ;  the  former  of  these  mounds 
has  disappeared,  but  that  on  the  rigiit  bank  became  the  nucleus  of  our  Hertford 
and  its  castle.  The  Conqueror,  who  probably  caused  the  castle  to  be  built,  made 
Peter  de  Valoincs  governor  of  Hertford,  creating  him  Baron  Essingdon  and 
Beyford,  and  from  him  the  manor  came  afterwards  by  marriage  to  Robert 
P'itzWalter,  of  the  Clare  family,  who  enlarged  it  m  Stephen's  reign.  In  the  time 
of  Henry  11.  Gilbert  de  Clare  was  styled  Earl  of  Herndford. 

In  the  end  of  King  John's  reign  this  castle  was  t.iken  after  a  siege  of  three 
weeks  by  the  Dauphin  Louis,  and  was  held  by  the  Erench  after  the  king's  death. 
Then,  in  2O  Iknrv  111.,  Richard  de  Montfichet  appears  to  have  possessed  it,  and 
after  him  it  reverted  to  the  Crown.  Queen  Isabella,  the  She-Wolf  of  Erance, 
resided  and  died  here,  her  body  being  laid  in  the  castle  chapel  till  taken 
to  London.     After  the  battle  of  Neville's  Cross,  in  1346,  David,  the  young  King  of 


,32  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Scotland,  was  brought  captive  from  the  Tower  (see  Bambvrgh,  Northumber- 
LAXD),  and  endured  here  a  sad  imprisonment  of  eleven  years,  during  which, 
in  1362,  his  wife  Joan,  sister  to  Edward  III.,  died  in  the  castle,  his  country 
being  too  poor  to  pay  the  large  ransom  demanded  for  him  by  England.  During 
this  period  another  Sovereign,  John,  King  of  France,  taken  prisoner  at  the 
battle  of  Poictiers  by  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  was  brought  to  this  castle  and 

confined  in  it. 

Edward  III.  granted  to  his  fourth  son,  John  of  Gaunt,  then  Earl  of  Richmond, 
the  castle,  town,  and  honour  of  Hertford,  so  that,  at  the  time  of  the  deposition  of 
Richard  II.,  he,  as  Duke  of  Lancaster,  was  keeping  his  Court  there.  His  son, 
Henry  l\\,  settled  the  castle  on  his  second  wife,  Joan  of  Navarre,  and  she 
enjoved  possession  till  7  Henry  V.,  when  she  was  charged  with  practising  sorcery 
and  attempting  the  King's  life,  and  underwent  forfeiture  of  her  property  and 
imprisonment  in  Pevensey  Castle  for  the  term  of  nine  years,  being  only  released 
by  the  King,  her  step-son,  on  his  death-bed  {see  Leeds,  Kent).  Hertford,  mean- 
time, was  settled  on  Queen  Katherine. 

Henrv  \'I.  kept  his  Court  here,  and  settled  the  castle  on  Queen  Margaret. 
After  his  death,  Henry  VII.  obtained  it  as  heir  of  the  House  of  Lancaster,  and 
Henrv  VIII.  succeeded  his  father.  In  1533  the  Princesses  Mary  and  Elizabeth  (an 
infant)  were  placed  here  at  the  time  when  Henry's  divorce  degraded  the  former 
from  her  rank  and  succession,  and  here  they  were  secluded  for  six  years.  Elizabeth, 
as  Queen,  resided  occasionally  at  Hertford  and  held  her  Court  in  the  castle. 

Charles  I.  granted  the  manor  and  castle  to  William,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  who 
assigned  a  lease  of  it  to  Sir  William  Cooper,  in  whose  family  the  property  remained 
until  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  since  which  time  has  passed  by  purchase 
to  various  persons,  the  present  owner  being  Mr.  Alex.  P.  McMuUen. 

Besides  the  ancient  mound,  the  old  Saxon  burh,  standing  on  the  edge  of  the 
river,  little  remains  of  the  mediaeval  castle,  but  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
enceinte  wall,  about  30  feet  high  and  7  thick,  and  a  portion  built  into  the  mansion 
of  Sir  William  Harrington  (temp.  Elizabeth),  said  to  belong  to  the  gatehouse  of 
the  outer  ward  on  the  X.  The  battlements  have  perished,  but  there  remains  at 
the  S.E.  angle,  near  the  house,  shrouded  in  i\y,  a  part  of  the  circular  bastion 
which  capped  this  point.  The  ward  on  the  S.  depended  for  its  defence  on  the 
river  and  surrounding  marshes.  (Clark.)  The  wall  probably  crossed  the  now 
obliterated  ditch  of  the  mound,  and  ended  in  a  junction  with  a  shell  keep,  which 
may  have  stood  upon  it,  in  the  usual  Norman  method  ;  hut  of  this  there  are  no 
remains.  The  curtain  wall,  which  is  built  of  flint  rubble,  has  been  pierced  of 
later  years  to  admit  a  road  to  the  present  buildings,  nor  is  there  any  trace  of  a 
main  entrance,  which  may  have  been  on  the  S.  side  by  a  causewav.  Outside  the 
wall  are  remains  of  the  great  moat,  in  which  the  waters  of  the  Lea  flowed. 

The  centre  of  the  existing  dwelling  is  a  brick  gatehouse  of  the  period,  perhaps, 
of  James  I.,  ahered  and  adapted  to  modern  requirements,  and  on  either  side 


HERTFORDSHIRE  133 

are  modern  wings.  Over  the  doorway  is  an  old  sculpture  of  the  arms  of  France 
and  England.  The  gatehouse  has  four  octagonal  turrets,  one  of  these  being 
carried  up  as  a  watch-tower  ;  underneath  there  are  said  to  exist  the  old  vaults 
and  subterranean  passage.  Nothing  remains  of  the  buildings  and  lodgings  of  the 
old  castle,  a  lawn  and  a  pleasant  garden  now  occupying  the  area. 


K'YE    HOl'SE   (mmor) 

THE  remains  of  this  castellated  mansion  are  near  Hoddesdon  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  river  Lea — the  old  name  of  which  was  the  Ware — distant 
eighteen  miles  from  London.  Henry  V'l.  granted  a  licence  to  Andrew  Ogard 
and  others  to  impark  the  manor  of  Rye,  and  to  erect  a  castle  with  loopholes  and 
battlements.  The  manor  was  also  called  the  Isle  of  Rye,  from  its  being  constantly 
flooded  by  the  river.  Ogard  died  in  1454,  and  the  property  passed  from  his 
family  {temp.  Henry  VI 11.)  to  Sir  Edward  liaesch,  Kt.,  by  whom  it  was  after- 
wards sold  to  Edmund  Field,  and  ni  that  family  it  has  continued  to  almost  the 
present  day. 

The  chief,  if  not  the  only,  interest  attaching  to  this  residence  is  its  connection 
with  the  Rye  House  Plot,  formed  in  1683  for  the  assassination  of  King  Charles  11. 
and  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  on  their  road  from  Newmarket  to  London. 
The  isolated  situation  of  the  house,  half  a  mile  distant  as  it  was,  from  any  others, 
and  standing  on  a  narrow  by-road  from  Bishops  Stortford  to  Hoddesdon,  con- 
stantly used  by  Charles  on  his  journeys  to  and  from  Newmarket,  together  with 
the  defensible  nature  of  the  buildings,  made  this  Rye  House  a  convenient  and 
suitable  place  for  the  villany  proposed. 

It  was  tenanted  by  one  Richard  Rumbold,  formerly  an  officer  of  Cromwell's 
own  regiment,  who  had  fought  at  Dunbar  and  Worcester,  and  at  that  time  a  maltster 
and  a  sturdy  Republican,  who  was  stated  bv  the  king's  evidence  to  be  the  prime 
mover  of  the  plot.  This  was  alleged  to  be  as  follows  :  F"orty  or  fifty  well-armed 
men  were  to  be  distributed  inside  the  walls  and  malthouse  alongside  the  lane,  and 
under  the  hedge  opposite  ;  some  of  these  were  to  fire  on  the  postillion  and  at  the 
horses  with  their  blunderbusses,  and  the  bulk  of  tlicm  were  U)  attack  the  escort 
of  soldiers  guarding  the  royal  coach,  while  certain  men  were  detailed  to  fire  into 
the  carriage.  The  narrow  lane  leading  to  a  bridge  over  the  river,  with  a  hedge 
and  fence  on  one  side  and  the  long  range  of  granaries  and  stables  on  the  other, 
was  to  be  blocked  by  an  overturned  cart,  while  the  garden  and  other  walls  had 
holes  and  windows  from  which  a  number  of  men  might  fire  in  safety.  The 
conspiracy  leaked  out,  and  an  accidental  fire  at  Newmarket  causing  the  King's 
return  at  an  earlier  hour  than  was  expected,  disconcerted  the  conspirators  and 
prevented  the  e.xecution  of  the  plot,  wliicii  otherwise  would  probably  have  been 
successful.  The  discovery  of  the  alleged  plot  was  used  by  Cliarles  as  a  ground  for 
attacking  his  Whig  enemies,  and  was  soon  followed  by  the  trial  and  e.xecution  of 


,34  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Russell  and  Sidney,  "in  defiance  of  law  and  justice,"  while  some  politicians  were 
sent  to  the  gallows,  and  many  quitted  the  country.  Among  the  latter  was 
Rumbold,  who,  two  years  later,  accompanied  the  Earl  of  Argyle  in  his  unfortunate 
expedition  to  Scotland,  where,  being  taken  prisoner  in  an  attempt  to  cut 
through  a  bodv  nf  militia  sent  to  capture  him,  was  carried,  mortally  wounded,  to 
Edinburgh,  and  was  there  within  a  few  hours,  hastily  tried,  convicted,  and 
sentenced  to  be  hanged  and  quartered. 

The  Rye  House  was  a  square  brick  building  with  an  inner  courtyard  and  a 
large  iiaii.  It  was  mostly  pulled  down  early  in  the  last  century,  and  only  the 
gatehouse  remains,  a  red  brick  structure  with  a  Tudor  arch  over  the  entrance, 
showing  the  Ogard  arms  still.  There  is  a  watch  turret  on  the  summit.  For 
many  years  this  building  was  used  as  a  workhouse,  but  of  late  years  it  has  been 
kept  as  a  show  and  a  place  of  entertainment  for  the  London  East-enders.  It 
contains  some  old  oak  and  some  ancient  furniture,  among  which  is  the  Great 
Bed  of  Ware,  spoken  of  by  Shakespeare,  removed  from  the  Saracen's  Head  at 
Ware.  The  malthouses  of  Rumbold  have  been  turned  into  refreshment  rooms. 


Bebforbsbire 


AM  I'TIII  IJ.   (mm-exislnil) 

THE  lirst  casllc  lierc  is  described  hy  Lclaiul  as  "standinj4  on  a  lull,  with 
lour  or  live  fairc  towres  of  stone  in  tlic  inner  ward,  beside  tlie  basse 
coiirte."  This  structure  has  altoi;ether  disappeared.  It  was  built  by 
Sir  John  Cornwall,  created  Baron  Kanhope  in  1432,0111  of  the  spoils  of 
war  winch  he  had  acquired  in  France.  He  was  a  distinguished  soldier  and  leader 
in  tile  days  of  Henry  IV.  and  Flenry  \'.,  who,  at  Agincourt,  had  held  a  post  of 
honour  in  the  van,  in  company  with  the  Duke  of  York.  The  romance  of  his  story 
is,  that  at  a  tournament  at  York,  in  1401,  this  knij^ht,  hv  his  prowess  and  bearinj^, 
captivated  the  heart  of  the  Lady  Elizabeth,  sister  to  the  Kinj^,  and  widow  of  the 
Duke  of  Exeter,  and  married  her.  After  the  l-"anliopes,  the  manor  and  castle  of 
Ampthill  came,  in  1524,  into  the  hands  of  Reginald  Gray,  Earl  of  Kent,  and  soon 
afterwards  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Crown,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
Here  resided  the  injured  Queen  Katharine  of  Arragon,  when,  in  1529,  she  quitted 
Windsor  for  ever  ;  and  she  was  dwelling  here  when  the  decision  pronouncing  her 
marriage  null  and  void  was  given  at  Dunstable  Priory,  in  the  same  county,  in 
May  1533.  The  castle  was  afterwards  used  as  a  royal  residence  bv  Henry,  after 
his  marriage  with  his  sixth  wife,  Katharine  Parr,  ten  years  later,  and  to  .Ampthill 
was  brought  the  Princess  Mary  (afterwards  Queen)  for  recovery  from  an  illness. 

After  this  reign  the  place  appears  to  have  been  left  to  decay,  for  in  the  survey 
of  1649  it  is  said  to  be  utterly  demolished.  The  existing  house  of  Ampthill  was 
built  in  1694  by  the  first  Lord  Ashburnham.  Behind  it  are  some  lishponds,  and 
above  these,  at  the  edge  of  a  cliff,  stood  the  front  of  the  ancient  castle,  in  the 
possession  of  .Lord  Holland  are  two  ground  plans  of  Ampthill,  supposed  to  have 
been  taken  about  1616,  at  the  time  when  the  fabric  was  destroyed.  They  show 
that  the  area  comprehended  was  a  squaie  of  230  feet,  having  in  front  a  large  court, 
115  feet  by  120,  and  in  rear  two  small  ones,  each  45  feet  si|uare,  with  an 
oblcjng  courtyard  between  them.  In  front,  the  building  had  two  sipiare  |irojecting 
towers,  while  around,  at  irregular  distances,  were  nine  other  towers  of  dilTerent 
shapes,  chiefly  live-sided  semi-octagons. 


'36 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 
BEDFORD    {mu-cxistcnt) 


RICHARD  OF  CIRENCESTER  affirms  that  a  castle  stood  here  in  early 
Saxon  times,  A.D.  510,  to  defend  the  ford  of  the  river,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  mound  thus  originated  carried  the  usual  timber  fortalice  and 
stockade,  which,  as  in  many  other  places,  would  protect  the  position.  The  town 
built  near  it  became  of  considerable  importance,  increasing  also  under  Norman 
rule,  when,  in  the  time  of  the  Red  King,  the  third  Baron  of  Bedford,  Paganus  de 
Beaiichamp,  second  son  of  Hugh  de  Beauchamp,  a  companion  of  Duke  William, 
erected  a  strong  stone  castle  here  some  year  between  1087  and  1132,  which 
castle,  Camden  savs,  being  built,  tliere  was  no  form  of  civil  war  that  did 
not  burst  upon  it.  The  first  siege  it  sustained  was  from  King  Stephen,  in  1137, 
when  the  grandsons  of  the  founder,  Milo  de  Beauchamp  and  his  brothers, 
opposed  this  King  because  he  had  given  their  sister  in  marriage  to  Hugh,  the 
brother  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  together  with  the  barony  of  Bedford,  which  had 
belonged  to  their  father,  Simon  de  Beauchamp.  The  fortress  was  of  great  strength 
and  withstood  a  vigorous  assault,  surrendering  only  after  a  long  and  difficult 
siege  of  five  weeks,  costing  much  bloodshed  on  both  sides,  when  Milo  obtained 
good  terms.     Dugdale,  in  his  "  Baronage,"  gives  an  account  of  this  siege. 

Holinshed  tells  of  another  siege  by  the  same  King,  during  the  war  between 
him  and  David,  King  of  Scotland,  when  the  castle  was  held  by  Prince  Henry, 
the  son  of  David,  as  belonging  to  the  Earldom  of  Huntingdon,  which  was 
then  vested  in  the  Scottish  crown.  This  siege  lasted  thirty  daj's,  when  the 
place  was  yielded  to  Stephen  for  the  second  time. 

In  the  reign  uf  lohn,  William  de  Beauchamp,  as  one  of  the  disaffected  barons, 
placed  his  castle  in  the  hands  of  his  party  at  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  and 
two  years  after,  in  1216,  the  King  sent  against  it  Falco,  or  Falk  de  Brent,  a  Norman 
of  low  extraction.  He  reduced  the  castle  in  seven  days,  and  obtained  a  grant  of 
it  for  his  services,  when  he  settled  there,  and  at  once  repaired  and  greatly 
strengthened  the  fortress.  Then  he  proceeded,  after  the  manner  of  many  other 
robber  barons,  to  accumulate  wealth  by  harassing  and  despoiling  the  neighbour- 
hood, acquiring  by  rapine  and  violence  a  fortune  which  he  augmented  by  a 
marriage  with  an  heiress,  Margaret  de  Ripariis,  whose  consent  the  King  had 
enforced.  His  misdeeds  culminated  in  the  year  1224,  in  the  capture  and 
imprisonment  of  one  of  King  Henry's  judges  itinerant,  Henry  de  Braybroke, 
who  in  the  course  of  justice  had  allowed  thirty  verdicts  against  this  marauder 
to  pass  on  him  for  injurious  conduct,  and  whom  he  treated  with  great  barbaritv. 
The  young  King,  indignant  at  such  conduct,  ordered  a  levy,  and  accompanied 
by  Hubert  de  Burgh,  the  justiciary,  proceeded  to  Bedford  and  laid  siege  to 
Falk's  Castle,  with  much  preparation  and  provision  of  all  necestary  military 
machines.  Falk  himself,  however,  stole  away  into  Wales,  to  excite  a  diversion 
there,  leaving  the  defence  to  his    brother  William,  as  castellan,  who,  with  the 


BEDFORnSHIRK  137 

garrison,   made   a   strenuous   resistance,  so  tliat   tlie  assailants  were  forced  Id 
undermine  the  castle  towers. 

A  curious  circumstance  now  occurred.  The  King's  forces  were  unable  to 
[irocurc  the  necessarv  pickaxes  and  nllicr  tools  ret|uired  for  mining,  or  even 
strong  ropes  to  work  their  battering  engines,  and  although  requisitions  for  the 
various  articles  needed  were  sent  to  London  and  to  the  sheriffs  of  counties  as  far 
off  as  Dorsetshire,  as  well  as  of  the  neighbouring  counties,  still,  mainly  thrcnigh 
the  dclav  thus  caused,  it  was  sixty  days  before  the  place  fell.  Then,  when  his 
castle  was  taken,  P'alk  de  Brent  came  and  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  king, 
who  forfeited  his  property  and  sentenced  him  to  perpetual  banishment ;  so,  after 
delivering  up  all  his  money  and  gold  and  silver  vessels,  together  with  the  castles 
of  Pliiinptoii  and  Stoke  Courcy  (Somerset),  the  landless  baron  left  the  country, 
intending  to  go  to  Rome,  but  died  soon  after  at  Ciriac.  His  wife  refused  to  share 
his  exile,  on  the  plea  that  she  had  been  made  to  marry  him  against  her  will. 

The  demolition  of  the  castle  after  its  capture  must  have  been  tolerably  com- 
plete, for  by  order  August  20,  live  days  after  the  surrender,  the  shcritT  is  directed 
to  fill  in  the  ditch  and  level  the  surface  of  the  outer  ward,  to  reduce  the  mound, 
and  take  off  one-half  the  height  of  the  inner  walls,  and  three-quarters  from  the 
"old  tower"  in  the  \.\V. ;  all  this  seems  to  have  been  implicitly  carried  out, 
lor  no  trace  of  a  ditch  or  of  masonry  is  left.  Then  William  de  Heauchamp  was 
allowed  to  build  himself  a  mansion  on  the  site,  but  not  to  crenellate  it  ;  and  later, 
John  de  Mowbray,  who  inherited  and  obtained  Bedford  by  marriage  with  an 
heiress  of  the  Beauchamps,  came  to  Bedford,  and  is  said  to  have  died  seised  of 
the  "  ruinous  Castle  of  Bedford."  In  Camden's  time  nothing  remained  but  the 
ruins  overhanging  the  river  on  the  E.  side  of  the  town. 

The  account  given  by  Camden  of  the  final  siege  is  as  follows,  and  is  worth 
transcribing,  as  giving  an  insight  into  the  art  of  war  as  practised  against  fortified 
places  in  the  thirteenth  cciiturv  : 

"  On  the  E.  side  were  one  petrary  and  two  mangonels  battering  the  old  tower  ; 
as  also  one  upon  the  S.  and  another  on  the  \.  part,  which  beat  down  two  passages 
through  the  walls  that  were  next  them.  Besides  these  there  were  two  machines, 
contrived  of  wood,  so  as  to  be  higher  than  the  castle  and  tower,  erected  on  purpose 
for  the  gunners  and  watchmen  ;  they  had  also  several  machines,  wherein  the 
gunners  (artillerists)  and  slingers  lay  in  ambush.  There  was  also  another  machine, 
called  cdttiis,  imder  which  the  diggers,  who  were  employed  to  undermine  the  walls 
of  the  tower  and  castle,  came  in  and  out.  The  castle  was  taken  by  four  separate 
assaults  :  in  the  first  was  taken  the  barbican  ;  in  the  second  the  outer  ballium  ;  at 
the  third  attack  the  wall  of  the  old  tower  was  thrown  down  by  the  miners,  where, 
with  great  danger,  they  possessed  themselves  of  the  inner  ward  through  a  cliink; 
at  the  fiiuith  assault  the  miners  set  fire  to  the  tower,  so  that  the  smoke  burst  out, 
and  the  low  er  tower  itself  was  cloven  to  that  degree  as  to  show  visibly  some  broad 
chinks,  whereupon  the  enemy  surrendered." 

VOL.  I.  s 


,38  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Hubert  de  Bur.i^li  at  once  hanged  eighty  of  the  garrison  from  the  walls.  The 
sheriff  then  proceeded  to  demolisli  the  outer  ballium  and  the  keep,  and  to  till  in 
the  moat,  after  which  the  inner  ballium  was  granted  to  William  de  Beauchamp  for 
a  residence.  The  stones  were  granted  to  the  church  of  St.  Paul,  which  had  been 
despoiled  by  Falk,  and  the  "  ould  mines,"  of  small  extent,  that  overhung  the  river 
on  the  E.  side,  as  shown  in  Speed's  map  of  1610,  have  long  disappeared,  and  have 
given  place  to  the  beautiful  garden  of  the  Swan  Hotel.  The  ancient  mound  is 
150  feet  in  diameter  and   15  feet   in   height,   its  sides  being  now  planted  with 

trees. 

From  this  point  the  old  river  frontage  of  the  castle  extended  600  feet,  and  in 
the  midst  was  once  a  stone  weir,  10  feet  wide,  erected  across  the  river  to  maintain 
the  water  in  the  moat;  its  foundations  may  still  be  seen.  The  length  of  the  E. 
and  \V.  moat  was  675  feet.  The  last  remains  of  the  barbican  wall  were  taken 
away  in  1850,  during  some  rebuilding  in  Castle  Lane.  In  a  paper  by  Mr.  Gary 
Elwes  the  opinion  is  expressed  that  the  entrance  to  the  castle  was  from  the  S., 
over  the  weir  or  causeway  across  the  Ouse,  and  that  the  mound  was  in  the  outer 
ward,  and  never  probably  possessed  a  keep,  having  been  raised  originally  to 
command  a  ford  over  the  river  at  this  point. 

BLETSOE   {minor) 

SIX  miles  N.W.  of  Bedford  are  the  remains  of  the  old  moated  house  of  the 
St.  Johns.  There  is  a  licence  to  Johannes  de  PateshuU  (i  Edward  III.) 
to  crenellate  his  vmnstiiu  at  Bletnesho. 

The  greater  part  of  a  later  erection  of  the  early  seventeenth  century  has  long 
been  pulled  down,  and  what  remained  converted  into  a  farmhouse.  It  was  a 
huge  quadrangular  building  in  four  storeys,  with  four  gable  windows,  having 
an  ancient  bridge  over  the  moat.  Some  vestiges  of  the  early  castellated  mansion 
are  seen  near  the  house. 

The  manor  was  held,  at  the  Norman  survey,  by  Hugh  de  Beauchamp,  and 
Sir  Roger  de  Beauchamp,  chamberlain  to  Edward  III.,  lived  here  as  Baron 
Beauchamp  of  Bletsoe.  His  granddaughter  and  heiress,  Margaret,  married 
first  Sir  Oliver  St.  John,  and,  after  his  death,  John  Beaufort,  Duke  of 
Somerset,  by  whom  she  had  one  daughter,  the  wife  of  Edmund  Tudor,  Earl  of 
Richmond,  and  the  mother  of  King  Henry  VII.,  who  was  born  at  this  house. 
Here  lived  her  mother,  the  Duchess  of  Somerset,  in  great  state,  when  married 
to  a  third  husband,  Leo,  Lord  Welles.  Her  first  husband's  descendant  was, 
in  1559,  created  Lord  St.  John  of  Bletsoe,  and  the  property  continues  still  in 
that  same  family. 


ki:dkordshiri-; 


•39 


CAIXHOE,   OK  CLOPHILL  {non-existent) 

THREE  and  a  half  miles  from  Shefford,  was  a  dwelling  of  the  Barons  de 
Alhini,  a  place  of  considerable  strength,  of  which  the  keep  can  be 
traced  still  on  a  lofty  hill  overgrown  with  wood.  After  the  extinction  of  the 
Albinis  this  manor  passed,  by  co-heircsses,  to  the  Lacvs  and  Nortons,  and  after- 
wards to  the  Greys,  Earls  of  Kent. 


CONGER    HILL   {non-existent) 

A!"  Conger    Hill,  by  Toddington,  is  a  very  large  mound,  supposed  to  be  the 
^itc  of  the  keep  of  a  castellated  mansion  belonging  to  Sir  Paulinas  Peyore, 
who  died  in  1251. 


EAT O  X-B  RAY    {non-extstent) 

THIS  castle  belonged  to  Roger  dc  Bray  in  1312,  whose  descendant  wa> 
summoned  to  Parliament  in  1530  as  Baron  Bray,  the  title  becoming 
extinct  by  his  son's  death  in  1557.  There  are  no  remains  of  the  castle,  or  of  the 
succeeding  mansion  of  Lord  Bray. 


T 


EATON   SOCON   {non-existent) 

HE  BeaiKiiamp  family,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  11.,  had  another  seat  at  a  point 
a  short  distance  S.  of  St.  Neots. 


Here  the  river  Ouse,  on  its  way 
through  the  flat  lands  which  it  inter- 
sects between  this  place  and  Bedford, 
at  that  period  a  region  of  swamps, 
skirted  some  higher  ground  on  its 
right  bank  where  stand  the  church 
and  village  of  Eaton  Socon,  and  here 
was  raised,  in  Danish  or  Saxon  times, 
a  vast  earthwork,  known  as  Castle 
Hill,  close  to  the  \V.  or  left  bank  of 
the  river.  The  drawing  given  by 
Clark  shows  an  enclosure  formed  by 
a  wet  ditch  taken  off  at  right  angles 
from  the  river  for  a  length  of  140 
vards,  forming  its  N.  front ;  thence 
turning  S.  and  curving    back    to  the 


EATON   SOCON 


river    bank    again    for    i<)o   yards,  enclos- 


ing about    three  and   half  acres  thus  by  a  moat,  the   land  along  this  forming 


,4o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

an  outer  ward.  At  some  distance  from  this  outer  moat  was  a  second  one, 
curving  back  in  the  same  way  from  the  ditcli  on  the  N.,  and  40  to  50  feet  wide, 
forming  an  inner  enclosure  divided  again  into  two  portions  by  another  straight 
ditch,  thus  forming  two  inner  wards,  the  one  on  the  S.  having  another  inner  moat. 
In  the  centre  of  this  is  a  low  circular  mound  40  feet  in  diameter,  which,  however, 
shows  no  traces  of  masonry;  there  are,  however,  two  depressions  which  look 
like  sites  of  ancient  towers.  These  earthworks  are  very  strong,  as  the  moats  are 
bordered  on  the  inside  by  high  ramparts,  and  they  resemble  those  of  Hunting- 
don, which  lies  a  little  farther  on  at  the  same  river's  side. 

In  Domesday,  Eaton,  or  Eiton,  is  shown  as  held  by  Bishop  Odo,  but  there  is 
no  mention  of  a  castle,  which  name  Norman  surveyors  would  not  give  to  a 
timber  and  earth  fortress.  In  1165  Simon  de  Beauchamp  held  the  barony,  under 
whom  Hugh  de  Beauchamp  held  one  knight's  fee  ;  he  was  eldest  son  of  Oliver,  a 
cadet  of  Milo  de  Beauchamp  of  Bedford.  Speed  mentions  Eaton  as  having  a 
castle,  and  Leland  speaks  of  the  vestiges  of  one  as  being  the  property  of  Lord 
Vaux.  (Clark.)  The  chief  interest  lies  in  the  curious  arrangement  of  the  water 
defences  as  shown  on  Mr.  Clark's  plan  here  given. 

LUTON,  OR  SOMERIES  (minor) 

THE  lands  here,  lying  about  four  miles  E.  from  Dunstable,  were  at  one  time 
the  property  of  the  notorious  Falk  de  Brent,  who  obtained  the  honour  of 
the  district  from  King  John,  and  perhaps  had  a  stronghold  here  in  1216  ;  but  the 
founder  of  the  earlv  castellated  mansion  is  supposed  to  have  been  Sir  John 
Rotherham,  who  was  steward  of  the  household  to  Henry  111.  Henry  V.  granted 
the  manor  of  Luton  in  1406  to  John,  Duke  of  Bedford,  the  Regent  of  France  ;  and 
the  next  recorded  possessor  is  Sir  John  Wenlock,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  who 
owned  considerable  property  in  this  neighbourhood,  and  who  erected  the  beautiful 
Wenlock  Chapel  in  Luton  Church.  He  was  a  prince  of  turn-coats.  Originally  a 
trusted  supporter  of  the  Lancastrian  cause  he  was  severely  wounded  at  the  first 
battle  of  St.  Albans,  in  1455,  fighting  for  Henry  VI. ;  after  which  that  King  made 
him  a  Knight  of  the  Garter  and  promoted  him  to  several  State  offices.  He 
soon  after  changed  sides  and  took  part  with  the  victorious  Yorkists  in  the  bloody 
battle  of  Towton  in  1461,  obtaining  afterwards  from  the  new  King  the  post  of 
chief  butler  of  England,  and  the  lordship  of  Berkhamstead  Castle,  Herts,  being 
also  created  Baron  Wenlock  and  a  privy  councillor.  Then  he  turned  again  over 
to  the  side  of  Queen  Margaret,  and  at  the  battle  of  Tewkesbury,  in  1471,  was 
entrusted  with  the  command  of  the  second  line,  or  the  supporting  force.  Here, 
when  the  troops  of  the  first  line  under  Edmund,  Duke  of  Somerset,  were  routed 
by  the  lances  under  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  Lord  Wenlock  remained 
stationary,  and  failed  to  afford  support ;  whereon  Somerset,  suspecting  treachery, 
rode  up  to  him  as  he  sat  on  his  horse  in  the  market-place,  and  reviling  hmr, 


BEDFORDSHIRE  141 

smaslicd  in  liis  lie;id  with  a  blow  of  his  battle-axe.  Leiaiul  says  that  Wenlock 
left  an  lieir-j^eneral  who  was  married  to  a  relative  of  the  Archbisiiop  of  York,  and 
tlial  he  inherited  "three  hiinderheth  niarkes  of  land  hereabouts,  and  a  fair  place 
within  the  paroche  of  Luton  caulyd  Soinerys,  which  house  was  sumptuously 
begun  bv  Lord  Wenlock  (in  144S)  ;  but  not  finished."  It  was  a  brick  building, 
of  which  the  gatehouse  with  machicoulis  and  line  polygonal  flanking  towers, 
with  some  portions  of  the  chapel  and  other  buildings,  still  remain  in  tolerable 
preservation,  the  rest  having  been  destroyed. 

Part  of  a  high  tower  is  still  to  be  seen,  a  drawing  of  which  is  given  in  Pegge's 
paper  in  the  "  Hiblio.  Topograph.  Brit.,"  vol.  iv.  It  was  ascended  by  an  inclined 
plane,  Mislead  of  a  staircase,  ami  there  was  a  speaking-tube  which  carried  the 
voice  from  the  roof  to  the  ground  level.  The  entrance  had  a  low  arch,  and  the 
windows  had  labels. 

King  James  I.,  in  his  progress  in  1605,  spent  a  night  in  this  house.  It  is  the 
property  of  Madame  de  Falbe. 

ODELL   inmior) 

THIS  castle,  sometimes  written  Woodhill,  stands  on  the  X.  bank  of  the  river 
Ouse,  X.W.  of  Bedford.  It  was  once  a  seat  of  the  Barons  de  W'aluil,  a 
family  distinguished  for  their  nobility  and  their  broad  acres  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  1.  Odell  Castle  remained  with  them  till  the  reign  of  Henry  VTll.,  when, 
by  the  marriage  of  the  heiress  of  Anliiony,  Lord  Wahul,  with  Richard  Chetwode, 
of  Oakley,  Staffordshire,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  this  family,  and  was 
afterwards  sold  bv  them  to  a  family  named  Alston,  who  built  a  new  house  upon 
the  old  site.  Leland  (temp.  Henry  VI 11.)  speaks  of  the  "strange  ruins  of  Odell 
Castle."  There  is  not  much  remaining  of  the  Walnils'  abode,  and  Init  few  traces 
of  architectural  work  except  in  some  buttresses  and  battlements.  The  position, 
on  an  eminence,  has  a  fine  prospect  over  the  river  Ouse  and  the  adjacent 
country. 

RISIXGHOE,  OR  CASTLE  MILLS  {,wn-cxistc>a) 

rllKREwas  in  Goldington,  two  miles  X.L.  from  Bedford,  on  the  Ouse,  a 
possession  of  the  Beauchamps,  though  supposed  by  Leland  to  have  been 
attached  to  the  castle  of  Walter  le  Spec,  the  founder  of  Warden  Abliey  in  1135. 
(He  also  founded  Rievaux,  in  1131,  and  Kirkham,  in  11 21,  Yorkshire).  There  is 
a  vast  mound  on  which  a  Saxon  keep,  and  perhaps  one  of  later  date,  may  have 
been  erected,  and  there  are  earthworks  adjoining  it,  but  no  foundations  of  walls 
or  masonry  have  been  found.  It  seems  possible  that  this  was  originally  a  Saxon 
fortitication  raised  at  the  time  of  the  Danish  invasion  at  Tempsford,  and  a 
connecting  post  between  Bedford  and  Eaton  Socoii. 


,42  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

SEGENHOE    {uon-cxistcnt) 


s 


EGEXHOE,  in  tlie  parish  of  Kidgmont,  near  Wobiirn,  had  a  castle,  which 
existed  as  late  as  1276,  and  was  probably  a  seat  of  the  Wahuls. 

YIELDEN   CASTLE   {non-existent) 


YIELDEX  Castle,  on  the  borders  of  Northamptonshire,  was,  at  the  time  of 
Domesday  Survey,  the  seat  of  the  Barons  of  Traylly.  Their  castle  is 
spoken  of  in  an  inquisition  in  1360  as  having  then  fallen  into  complete  decay. 
The  site  is  still  called  the  Castlefield,  where,  from  the  appearance  of  the  earth- 
works, the  building  may  be  judged  to  have  been  a  place  of  great  strength. 


DOARSTALL   TOWER 


BuchiiiGbainsbirc 


BOARSTAI.r.  TOWER  {mimr) 

BOARSTALL  was  so  called  from  the  legend  of  a  wild  boar  that  was  killed 
(temp.  Edward  the  Confessor)  by  one  Nigel,  a  forester,  in  the  ancient 
forest  of  Bernwood,  wherein  the  tower  stands,  in  its  SAV.  corner,  near 
tiie  border  of  Oxfordshire,  two  miles  from  Brill  and  eight  from  Oxford. 
The  place  was  a  favourite  himting-gronnd  of  the  Kings  of  Mercia,  and  many  lights 
took  place  thereabout  with  the  Danes;  it  was  disafforested  by  James  I.  Hearnesavs 
that  the  name  signilies  a  seat  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  which  is  just  the  position  oi  Boar- 
stall  ;  but  the  tradition  of  the  hunting  incident,  and  the  tenure  of  the  manor  follow- 
ing by  the  horn,  which  also  enters  into  the  coat  of  arms,  seem  to  have  some  truth. 
In  the  Domesday  Survey,  William  Lisures  is  in  possession  of  the  manor  of 
Brill,  which  included  Boarstall,  and  he  granted  it  to  William  Kitznigel,  who  was 
perhaps  a  son  of  the  forester.  In  1312  Sir  John  de  Hanlo,  sheriff  of  Oxfordshire, 
got  a  grant  of  waste  lands  in  Bernwood,  and  by  marriage  obtained  the  lands  of 
Fit/.nigel  ;  and  from  his  descendants  the  manor  of  Boarstall  passed  through  heirs 
female  to  the  following  families  :   Delapole,  Jones,  Keade,*  Dynham,  or  Denham, 

*  Sir  Edmund  Kedc,  Knt.,  in  liis  will,  14.S7,  bequeaths  to  Ills  son  William  "the  Great  Horn 
Rarnished  with  silver  and  gilt,  which  tlie  King  gave  to  Nigel,  a  forester  of  Bernwood,"  and 
which  he  desires  liis  heirs  never  to  alienate,  under  pain  of  excommunication.  This  venerable 
relic  seems  to  he  of  buffalo  horn,  brown  and  veined  like  tortoiscshell,  2  feet  4  inches  long, 
tipped  with  silver,  with  a  leather  wreath  to  hang  about  the  neck.  It  is  now  possessed  by  the 
Society  of  Antinuarics.     (Shcahan.) 


,^^  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Banastrc  Lewis,  and  Aiibrcv,  all  of  whom  held  the  office  of  forester  in  Bernwood. 
It  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Charles  A.  Aubrey  of  Dorton. 

Boarstall  Tower  was  a  castellated  mansion  which  Sir  John  de  Hanlo  had 
licence  (6  Edward  II.  1313)  to  fortify  "quod  possit  kernellare  mansumde  Borstall 
iuxta  BrehuU."  The  only  remaining  portion,  however,  is  the  Perpendicular  gate- 
house, added  in  the  fifteenth  century— a  fine  specimen  of  the  work  of  that  period; 
a  woodcut  of  it  is  given  by  Lipscomb.  This  massive  entrance  gateway  stands  far 
in  front  of  the  Tudor  house,  supported  by  two  octagonal  flanking  towers  (like 
the  surviving  gatehouse  of  Middleton,  Norfolk),  with  a  paved  approach  by  a 
two-arched  bridge  over  the  remains  of  the  moat,  which  was  originally,  of  course, 
crossed  by  a  drawbridge.  There  are  some  good  moulded  brick  chimneys  ;  the 
roof,  formerlv  leaded,  has  recently  been  covered  with  copper.  The  interior  is 
verv  gloomy,  there  being  one  large  apartment  on  the  chief  floor,  and  some 
small  rooms  communicating  by  narrow  passages  through  the  walls,  and  by  spiral 
staircases  with  groined  roofs.  The  whole  area  covered  by  house  and  gardens  is 
about  three  acres,  surrounded  by  a  very  wide  and  deep  moat,  whereof  one  side 
has  been  filled  up. 

Boarstall  was  an  important  post  during  the  Civil  War,  and  was  garrisoned 
for  King  Charles  in  1644,  under  Sir  William  Campion,  but  was  evacuated,  and  at 
once  taken  possession  of  by  the  Parliamentary  garrison  of  Aylesbury,  when, 
being  found  to  be  an  aiuioyance  to  Oxford,  Colonel  Gage  was  sent  to  retake  it ; 
this  he  did  by  bombarding  the  house  from  the  adjacent  church,  when  the 
place  was  surrendered,  the  owner.  Lady  Denham,  escaping  in  disguise  by  a  secret 
passage.  In  May  1645  Skippon  essayed  to  retake  it  and  failed,  whereupon  Fairfax 
himself  attacked  the  place,  but  with  no  better  success,  losing  many  officers  and 
luen  there. 

The  King  came  there  in  August  of  the  same  year.  It  was  then  the  property  of 
Lady  Denham,  and  its  defences  were  strengthened  by  a  stockade  outside  the 
moat  or  grafte  and  two  lines  of  palisades  at  the  top  of  the  earthen  rampart.  In 
1645  Boarstall  was  the  sole  Rovalist  garrison  remaining  in  Bucks,  when,  being 
again  attacked  by  Fairfax,  after  a  siege  of  eight  weeks  it  had  to  surrender,  on 
honourable  terms.  After  Lady  Denham's  death,  Boarstall  Tower  went  with 
her  stepdaughter  in  marriage  to  one  William  Lewis,  whose  daughter  married 
Sir  John  Aubrey  of  Glamorganshire.  The  sixth  baronet  of  that  family  de- 
molished the  house,  and  built  with  its  materials  the  Wood  Farm,  in  the  parish 
of  Woriuinghall. 


BOLEBEC,    OrWHITECHURCH    {non-existent) 

BETWEEN  Aylesbury  and  Winslow,  and  on  W.  side  of  the  village  of  White- 
church,  is  a  spot  called   Market  Hill,  where  was  formerly  the  Castle  of 
Bolebec,  and  close  to  Weir  Lane,  where  was  the  entrance  to  it,  w  as  a  drawbridge, 


bljckinghamshirp:  145 

which  was  reinaininf»  at  the  cud  of  tlie  last  cciilurv.  Althou^li  no  vestij^cs  of  the 
walls  or  of  any  hiiildinj^s  above  j^roiind  remain,  there  is  a  hijjh  bank  of  earth,  with 
four  or  five  tunuili  and  traces  of  a  moat,  beinj;  part  of  tlie  site  of  this  castle,  and 
which  are  objects  of  curiosity,  being  visible  from  a  distance.  This  is  all  that  is 
left  of  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Bolebecs,  and  of  their  successors,  the  De  Veres, 
in  this  part  of  the  country,  the  site  now  being  the  property  of  Nfr.  H.  Chapman. 

Hugh  de  Bolebec,  a  follower  and  kinsman  of  Duke  William,  received  in 
reward  of  his  services  and  zeal  large  estates  in  this  and  other  counties  ;  his  son 
Hugh  founded  the  castle  about  the  time  that  his  brother  Walter  founded  Woburn 
Abbey  in  Beds,  and  who  succeeded  Hugh  at  Bolebec.  His  daughter  and 
heiress,  Isabel,  married  Robert  de  Vere,  third  Earl  of  Oxford  (ur  HlCDlXG- 
IIAM,  KssHX),  and  this  estate  thereafter  followed  the  fortunes  of  that  family. 
Edward,  seventeenth  Earl  of  Oxford,  died  seised  of  the  honour  of  Whitecluirch 
in  154K.  In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  the  manor  passed  to  the  faunly  of  Waterhouse, 
and  afterwards  to  many  other  persons.  In  1X57  it  was  purchased  by  j.  Guy,  of 
Clearsbv,  and  it  cuntinues  in  his  family,  .\fter  remaining  in  a  ruinous  state  for  a 
long  period,  Bolebec  Castle  was  finally  destroyed  at  the  end  of  the  Civil  Wars  of 
the  seventeenth  century. 

BUCKINGHAM    {notuexistent) 

TIIK  sctticnient  or  "  JKun  "  of  the  Bokings  lay  northward  of  the  Thames  in 
the  upper  valicv  of  the  Ouse,  and  after  the  establishment  of  the  Danelaw 
was  the  most  southern  of  the  I):mish  settlements  ui  Mid-Britain,  forming,  with 
Bedford  and  Huntingdon,  a  line  of  towns  which  held  the  Ouse  valley.  The 
Saxon  Chronicle  relates  that  Edward  the  Elder,  in  918,  attacked  the  Danes  in 
this  post,  and  captured  it  after  a  siege  of  four  weeks,  when  the  remaining  posts 
were  surrendered  to  him.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  fort  in  question  was  of 
masonry,  and  there  appears  to  be  no  record  ov  tradition  concerning  the  later 
fortress  erected  on  the  same  site.  Speed's  map,  published  in  1610,  shows  the 
town  of  Buckingham  surrounded  on  every  side  e.xcept  the  X.  by  the  river  Ouse, 
and  it  had  a  castle,  which  had  then  been  "  long  ruinous,"  in  the  midst.  This 
castle  must*  have  been  removed  not  long  after,  since,  in  1670,  there  were  no 
traces  of  it  existing,  and  its  site  formed  then  a  bowling-green,  which  was  much 
frequented  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  county.  Since  that  time  the  new  parish 
church  was  erected  on  the  ground.  In  1S21,  as  some  workmen  were  digging 
out  a  cellar  on  the  slope  of  the  church  hill,  they  came  on  a  part  of  the  founda- 
tions of  the  old  castle  ;  the  wall  itself  was  of  considerable  thickness,  being  com- 
posed of  unhewn  stones  of  the  cornbrash  limestone,  which  is  still  in  use  in  the 
neighbourhood.  These  were  probably  the  remains  of  the  Norman  castle  built 
soon  after  the  Conquest  by  Walter  (liffard,  first  Norman  Earl  of  Buckingham. 

VOL.  I.  I' 


1^6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

HANSLOPE  AND  CASTLETHORPE  {non-cxistct) 

THE  manor  of  Hanslope  was  granted  by  the  Conqueror  to  one  Winemar,  a 
F"leming,  whose  son  Walter  succeeded,  and  dying,  left  his  young  daughter 
and  the  estate  to  the  care  of  the  King,  Henry  I.,  who  married  her  to  his  chamber- 
lain of  the  roval  exchequer,  William  Mauduit  {male  doctiis).  Robert  Mauduit, 
the  fourth  lord,  joined  the  barons,  and,  in  1215,  held  the  castle  against  King 
John,  who  set  Falk  de  Brent  to  besiege  and  demolish  it,  which  he  effected.  This 
was  Castlethorpe  Castle,  near  Hanslope,  three  miles  N.  of  Stony  Stratford,  in  the 
extreme  N.  of  the  county,  deriving  its  name  from  this  ancient  castle,  which  was 
the  seat  of  the  barons  of  Hanslope.  William  Mauduit,  his  son,  received  back  his 
lands  from  Henry  111.,  and,  in  the  barons'  war,  took  part  with  the  King,  and 
attended  him  in  the  war.  He  married  Alice,  daughter  of  Gilbert  Segrave,  and, 
in  1263,  succeeded  to  the  earldom  of  Warwick  in  his  mother's  right,  who  was 
daughter  of  Waleran  de  Newburgh,  Earl  of  Warwick.  He  and  his  countess 
were  carried  off  from  their  castle  of  Warwick  in  a  raid  made  on  them  by  de 
Montford's  garrison  at  Kenilworth,  where  they  remained  prisoners  for  some  time. 
He  died  5./>.,  in  1268,  when  his  sister's  son,  William,  Lord  Beauchampof  Elmsley, 
became  his  heir.  In  1291  (20  Edward  1.)  Willielmus  de  Bello  Campo,  Comes 
Warr,  received  a  licence  to  crenellate  the  wall  round  the  park  below  his  mansion 
of  Hamslape,  which  would  imply  that  his  house  of  Hanslope  had  already  been  em- 
battled as  a  castle  in  place  of  the  demolished  castle  of  Castlethorpe.  Upon  the 
attainder  of  Thomas  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick,  this  property  was  granted,  in 
1397,  to  Thomas  Mowbray,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and,  after  that  nobleman's  attainder, 
it  passed  to  Edward,  Duke  of  York,  who  was  killed  at  Agincourt,  whereupon  his 
estate  reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  was  afterwards  granted  to  various  royal 
personages.  Thus  it  formed  part  of  the  portion  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth  before 
her  elevation  to  the  throne.  Charles  II.  granted  Hanslope  to  the  Tyrrels,  whose 
estates  were  sold  to  Sarah,  Duchess  of  Marlborough,  in  1730,  and,  being  left  to 
her  grandson,  descended  to  Earl  Spencer.  This  manor,  with  that  of  Castle- 
thorpe, is  now  the  property  of  Edward  Hanslope  Watts  and  Lord  Carington. 

The  castle  of  Castlethorpe  was  never  rebuilt  ;  its  site  shows  traces  of  exten- 
sive buildings.  The  site  of  Hanslope  is  now  partlv  occupied  by  the  church  ; 
traces  of  its  deep  moat,  as  well  as  of  some  fishponds,  can  be  distinctly  seen,  and 
from  the  castle-hill,  which  is  the  site  of  the  ruin  of  its  ancient  keep,  an  extensive 
view  is  obtained. 


LAVENDON   {mn-existcit) 

LAVENDON  lay  in  the  extreme  N.  of  the  county,  on  the  border  of  Bedfordshire. 
The  manor  was  possessed  (temp.  Henry  III.)  by  the  family  of  Bidun,  and 
John  de  Bidun  founded  an  abbey  here  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.    Its  site  was  granted 


BUCKINGHAMSHIRE  147 

(1544)  to  Sir  Kdward  Pcckliam,  and  in  1676  the  estate  was  bought  by  Dr.  Xcwton, 
the  founder  of  Hertford  College,  Oxford,  who  built  a  residence  on  the  site  of  the 
abbey.  After  the  Biduns  the  castle  was  the  seat  of  the  Peyvres,  or  Peovres,  and 
next  of  the  Zouch  family,  who  sold  it  in  1527  to  Lord  Mordaunt.  in  1620  it  was 
sold  to  the  Coniptons,  from  whom  it  was  purchased  by  the  family  of  Karrer, 
Mr.  W.  K.  Farrer  being  the  present  owner.  There  are  no  remains  of  the  castle 
above  ground,  and  its  site  is  occupied  by  the  Castle  Farm  residence.  This  is 
encircled  by  a  deep  moat,  and  foundations  of  vast  thickness  have  often  been 
discovered  on  the  spot  ;  there  are  also  some  ancient  earthworks.  The  castle  was 
standing  in  i  232. 


NEWPORT    PAGNELL   Uwn-existcnt) 

A  I'  Newport  Pagnell  tJRTe  was  a  castle  belonging  to  the  Someries  of  Dudley. 
Camden  says  that  "John  de  Somerie  had  his  castle  here,"  of  which  fortress 
Goiigh  declares  there  were  then  no  traces.  Somery,  an  antiquary  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  says  that  Roger  de  Someries,  who  was  an  active  adherent  of  Kmg  Henry 
during  the  IJarons'  War,  limit  a  castle  at  Bordesley,  which  afterwards  became  his 
residence,  to  the  neglect  of  the  one  at  Xewport,and  thus  the  castle  in  question  would 
naturally  fall  into  ruin.  In  the  war  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  town  of  Newport 
Pagnell  was  fortilied,  and  an  engagement  took  jilace  there,  but  no  mention  is  made 
of  any  castle  then  existing.  The  site  of  the  ancient  one  of  the  Someries  is, 
however,  distinctly  visible  at  a  point  outside  the  town,  where  the  little  river  Lovatt 
meets  the  Ouse  ;  the  river  is  said  to  have  furnished  the  wet  moat  to  that  part  which 
faced  the  fields,  when  these  (temp.  Edward  11.)  were  called  the  Castle  Meadows 
and  are  still  so  known.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  Paganel  family,  the  ancient 
possessors  of  the  manor.  A  cemetery  now  covers  the  site  of  the  castle,  and,  in 
digging  graves,  foundations,  and  occasionally  carved  stonework,  are  turned  up. 
One  of  the  streets  was  formerly  known  as  Donjon  Lane. 

Pi>!IXCKS   RISBOROUGH   {mn-cxistent) 

PRINCES  RlSHOROrOH  is  supposed  to  have  obtanied  its  name  from 
connection  witii  tjie  iShuk  I'riiice,  to  whom  tradition  assigns  a  palace  on 
this  spot.  Its  site  is  near  the  W.  side  of  the  church,  where  are  several  trenches 
and  banks,  called  the  Mount,  anciently  enclosed  with  a  moat.  It  has  been  also 
called  a  Saxon  camp.  The  lands  where  these  remains  are  were  granted  by 
Elizabeth  to  the  Hampdens,  after  whom  they  came  into  the  possession  of  George, 
Earl  of  Buckingham,  who  caused  the  decayed  mansion,  which  had  long  been  in 
a  neglected  stale,  to  be  taken  down,  and  no  vestige  now  remains  of  the  supposed 
palace.     There  do  not  appear  to  be  any  grants  hereabout  in  the  Prince's  name. 


148  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

WESTON  TURVILLE  {non-existent) 

AFTER  the  Conquest  the  manor  of  Weston  belonged  to  Bishop  Odo,  of 
Bayeux,  half  brother  of  the  Conqueror,  and  Henry  I.  gave  it  to  the  Earl 
of  Melient,  created  Earl  of  Leicester  for  his  zeal  and  services  in  securing  that 
King's  usurpation  in  opposition  to  Duke  Robert  Curthose. 

In  the  reign  of  John  it  was  held  by  the  family  of  Turville,  whose  name  it 
acquired;  but  (temp.  Henry  111.)  the  manor  was  divided  mto  three,  and  in  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  one  of  these  portions  belonged  to  the  family  of 
de  Molyns.  In  7  Edward  III.  (1333)  John  de  Molyns  and  Egidia  his  wife  had  a 
licence  to  crenellate  "the  site  of  their  manor  of  Weston  Turvill,  Buks,"  and 
there  are  vet  verv  distinct  traces  of  the  moat  of  this  castellated  house. 

The  manor  of  Molyns  was  sold  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  was  bought 
about  thirty-five  years  ago  by  Baron  Anthony  de  Rothschild. 

At  the  manor-farm  of  Hyde  are  traces  of  moats,  arched  doors  and  cellars, 
which  must  have  belonged  to  a  large  mansion.     (Sheahan.) 

WOLVERTON    {mn-cxistcnt) 

THERE  are  no  visible  remains  of  this  castle  except  an  artificial  mound  near 
the  parish  church,  supposed  to  be  the  site  of  the  keep.  The  moat  was 
entirely  filled  up  at  the  time  that  the  church  was  rebuilt.  The  subsequent  mansion 
of  the  Longuevilles,  which  was  re-erected  in  1586,  has  also  disappeared  ;  it  is  said 
to  have  been  a  magnificent  abode. 

The  Conqueror  gave  the  manor  to  Manno,  a  Breton,  who  fixed  here  his 
baronial  home.  Manfelin,  second  baron,  founded  a  Benedictine  Priory  near  it. 
Seven  barons  of  Wolverton  of  this  family  followed.  In  1342,  Sir  John  de  Wol- 
verton  died,  seised  of  this  barony,  and  in  1351,  at  the  death  of  Ralph,  Baron 
Wolverton,  the  family  became  extinct,  the  lands  going  to  his  eldest  sister  Margerv, 
whose  daughter,  Joan,  married  John  de  Longueville,  in  whose  familv  Wolverton 
remained  for  300  years.  A  Sir  John  Longueville,  who  was  proprietor  in  Leland's 
time,  died  there  in  1537,  aged  103.  His  descendant  was  created  a  baronet 
in  1638  by  Charles  I.,  and  the  third  baronet  sold  the  manor  and  castle  in  1712  to 
the  celebrated  physician.  Dr.  Ratclifte,  for  about  _£"40,ooo  ;  he  dying,  bequeathed 
this  with  other  property,  under  trust  to  the  University  of  Oxford. 


SHIRBURN 


©yforbshirc 


BAMPTOX    IX   THK    lU'SII   Onmor) 

TH IC  rums  ni  this  castle  lie  in  the  S.W.  corner  of  the  county,  14  miles  from 
()xl()rtl  ;  a  flat,  low  tract  of  land,  much  overflowed  h\  the  river  isis,  as 
the  Thames  is  called  in  those  parts.  The  castle  of  Hampton  was  on 
the  \V.  of  the  church  and  deanery,  separated  from  it  by  a  hrook,  which 
drove  the  mill  and  supplied  water  to  the  moat.  The  ruins  of  it,  which  are  incor- 
porated in  two  farmhouses,  called  Ham  Court  and  Castle  Farm,  are  but  scanty, 
and  consist  of  little  more  than  the  old  gatehouse,  whereof  the  great  gateway  is 
now  divided  by  a  floor  into  upper  and  lower  rooms,  the  former  retaining  two  bays 
of  a  finely  groined  roof ;  this  upper  chamber  was  fitted  up  not  long  ago  and 
used  as  a  Catholic  chapel.  There  are  also  a  spiral  stone  staircase  and  a  double- 
light  Decorated  window,  and  the  old  loops  remain  below  ;  and  there  is  a  fragment 
of  crenellated  wall  with  its  loopholes. 

According  to  Anthony  a  Wood's  MS.  this  castle  formed  a  quadrangle  with 
a  round  tower  at  each  corner,  having  a  wide  moat  surrounding  the  whole 
fabric.  On  both  W.  and  E.  sides  were  large  and  loftv  gatehouses,  the  existing 
remains  lieing  part  of  the  western  one.  When  a  Wood  visited  the  place  in 
i<'i64,  nearly  the  whole  of  that  front  was  standing. 

The  manor  of  Hampton  was  given  in  1249  by  Henrv  111.  to  his  half  brother, 
William  de  X'alence,  P2arl  of  Pembroke,  whose  son  Avimer,  or  .\iulomar,  succeeded 
in  120*^1.    He  obtained  a  licence  from  Edward  II.,  in  1315,  to  crenellale  his  liouse, 


i^o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  he  then  erected  this  castle.  This  powerful  noble,  though  thrice  married,  left 
no  issue,  and  his  inheritance  fell  to  his  three  sisters  :  Isabel,  married  to  John,  Lord 
Hastings,  Joan,  the  wife  of  John  Comyn,  of  Badenoch,  in  the  North,  and  Agnes, 
who  married,  firstly,  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  secondly,  Hugh  de  Baliol,  and  thirdly, 
John  d'Avennes,  but  died  s./i. 

Edward  II.  disposed  Bampton  to  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Joan  de  Valence 
and  John  Comvn,  who  died,  seised  of  this  manor  and  castle,  October  1356.  She 
married  Sir  Richard  Talbot,  who,  taking  part  against  the  Despensers  and  the  King, 
was  captured,  together  with  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  and  the  Lord  Badlesmere 
(sec  Leeds,  Kent),  after  the  disaster  at  Boroughbridge  ;  but  he  was  not  executed 
like  them,  perhaps  because  Despenser,  having  seized  Talbot's  wife,  Elizabeth,  at 
her  house  of  Kennington,  in  Surrey,  kept  her  a  close  prisoner  for  more  than  a 
year,  until  slie  gave  up  to  him  her  manor  of  Painswick  in  Gloucester,  and 
Goodrich  Castle,  Hereford.  Another  Sir  Richard  Talbot,  the  fourth  Baron 
Talbot,  being  the  great-grandson  of  Joan  de  Valence,  held  Bampton,  and  at  his 
death,  his  son  Sir  Gilbert  succeeded,  after  his  widow,  and  dying  in  1419,  left  a 
daughter,  Ankaret.  She  died  during  her  minority,  when  the  Talbot  estates,  includ- 
ing Bampton,  fell  to  the  great  warrior,  Sir  John  Talbot,  her  imcle,  the  first  Earl 
of  Shrewsbury,  who  so  gloriously  sustained  the  cause  of  England  in  France  {sec 
Sheffield).  In  the  Talbot  family  this  manor  remained,  or  rather  a  part  of  it, 
since  it  had  been  divided  into  three  (temp.  Edward  IV.). 

About  fifty  years  ago  some  out-lying  portions  of  the  Shrewsbury  estates  were 
sold,  including  this  relic  of  the  ancient  castle,  which  then  passed  to  the  possession 
of  Jesus  College,  O.xford. 

BANBURY  {non-c.xistcHt) 

THIS  castle  was  built  about  the  year  1125,  in  the  reign  of  Henrv  I.,  by 
Alexander,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  nephew  of  Roger,  the  celebrated  Bishop  of 
Salisbury  {sec  Devizes),  who,  being  made  prisoner  by  Stephen,  was,  by  severe 
imprisonment,  continued  for  seven  months  on  scanty  fare,  forced  to  give  up  the 
castle  ;  he  succeeded,  however,  in  recovering  it,  and  the  Bishops  of  Lincoln  con- 
tinued to  possess  the  estate  till  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  Leiand  describes  the 
castle  thus  :  "Ther  is  a  castle  on  the  N.  side  of  this  area,  having  two  wards,  and 
each  ward  a  dich.  In  the  utter  is  a  terrible  pryson  for  convict  men.  In  the  N. 
part  of  the  inner  ward  is  a  fair  piece  of  new  building  of  stone."  The  outer  ditch 
enclosed  over  3  acres,  the  area  of  the  castle  covering  3  roods,  3  perches. 

Nothing  remains  but  a  fragment  of  wall,  from  2  to  3  yards  square,  and 
a  portion  of  the  moat.  The  Cherwell  flowed  at  a  short  distance  on  the  E., 
receiving  the  waters  from  the  moat.  Stukeley,  writing  171 2,  says  that  in  a  part  of 
the  work  were  the  lodgings  and  the  chapel,  but  no  more  existed  at  that  time  than 
at  present,  and  he  adds  :  "  The  ditch  went  along  the  middle  of  the  adjacent  street. 


OXFORDSHIRF.  151 

and  houses  are  built  by  the  side  of  it,  as  people  now  alive  renieniber.  in  the 
civil  wars  it  received  new  additional  works,  for  there  are  plain  remains  of  four 
bastions,  a  brook  running  without  them." 

The  fortress  appears  to  have  been  a  magnificent  work  of  its  day  (Beesley), 
but  luitil  the  seventeenth  century,  when  it  proved  an  inijiortant  and  formidable 
post,  no  military  events  are  recorded  in  connectit)n  with  Banbury.  In  February 
1 500,  Henry  V'l  I.  held  a  council  of  war  in  this  castle,  and  a  year  after  a  commission 
was  held  there  to  trv  certain  clerks  convicted  of  highway  robbery,  who  were  con- 
fined in  this  prison  of  the  bishops,  a  similar  prison  of  the  same  diocese  being 
placed  at  Newark.  These  ecclesiastical  gaols  were  required  in  order  to  detain 
clerics  who,  in  cases  of  felony,  demanded  "  benefit  of  clergy,"  when  the  civil 
courts  were  obliged  to  liaiul  them  over  to  the  episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  this 
continued  as  long  as  the  Papal  supremacy  was  recognised  in  England.  This, 
then,  was  the  "  terrible  pryson  "  of  Leland.  In  1595  Queen  Elizabeth  "  leased  "  the 
property  to  Sir  Richard  Fenys  (Fiennes),  afterwards  Lord  Saye  and  Sele,  and  his 
children,  a  process  which  seems  equivalent  to  giving  the  fee  simple. 

At  the  opening  of  the  civil  war  between  King  Charles  and  his  Parliament, 
William,  Viscount  Saye  and  Sele  (sir  HROfOHTON),  who  took  a  leading  part  on 
the  popular  side,  and  is  said  by  Clarendon  to  have  been  responsible  for  many  of 
the  evils  that  befel  the  unhappy  kingdom,  had  garrisoned  Banbury  Castle,  and 
after  the  battle  of  Edgehiil  on  October  27,  Charles  marched  thither,  and,  drawing 
out  his  forces,  planted  some  guns  against  the  castle  ;  but  at  the  lirst  cannon  shot 
the  garrison  sent  to  treat,  and  the  castle  was  surrendered  with  1500  stand  of  arms 
therein.  From  thence  to  tlie  end  of  tiie  war  Pjunbury  cnntiiuied  a  Royalist  strong- 
hold, in  the  midst  of  a  district  entirely  Parliamentarian.  No  doubt  the  saintly 
townsfolk  were  sorelv  tried  bv  the  presence  of  the  imgodly  cavaliers  in  their 
midst,  but  the  puritanism  of  Banbury  was  proverbial,  as  a  verse  of  those  days 
declares  : 

"  In  my  progress,  travelling  northward, 
Taking  my  farewell  of  the  southward. 
To  Banbury  came  I,  O  profane  one, 
Where  I  saw  a  puritane  one 
Hanging  of  his  cat  on  Monday, 
For  killing  of  a  mouse  on  Sunday." 

In  1644  the  great  siege  of  Banbury  Castle  took  place,  commencing  in  July  and 
being  carried  on  with  great  determination  till  after  Michaelmas.  The  governor 
was  the  brave  yoimg  Sir  William  Conipton,  son  of  the  late  Earl  of  Northampton, 
a  lad  of  only  eighteen,  who  proved  himself  well  wortiiy  of  the  trust  conlided 
to  liini.  The  Parliamentary  leader  was  Colonel  John  Fiennes,  son  of  Lord  Saye 
and  Sele,  and  after  sinnmoning  vainly  the  governor  to  yield  up  the  castle,  he 
closely  pressed  the  siege.  Lines  were  drawn  round  it,  and  guns  in  battery  dailv 
played  on  the  fortress,  but  the  garrison  made  successful  sallies  on  their  works 


152  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  ciuicklv  repaired  damages.  By  the  middle  of  September  the  shot  had  made 
a  groat  breacli  in  tlie  W.  wall  of  the  outer  ward,  30  yards  in  length,  but  it  was 
speedily  backed  up  with  earth,  and  when  after  another  futile  summons,  Fiennes, 
on  September  23,  stormed  the  walls,  he  was  met  with  a  determined  resistance 
and  beaten  hack.  Besides  battering  the  wails,  colliers  were  brought  to  mine 
them  ;  but  the  mines  were  spoilt  by  springs  of  water  which  burst  out  below, 
and  then  an  attempt  was  made  unsuccessfully  to  drain  the  moat.  At  length,  on 
October  25,  the  Earl  of  Northampton,  Compton's  brother,  came  to  the  relief  of 
the  place,  with  some  cavalry  from  Newbury,  aided  by  some  horse  and  foot  from 
Atterburv.  Then  the  besiegers  tried  to  retreat,  and  some  heavy  encounters 
took  place  in  which  the  rebels  were  worsted  and  their  whole  force  broken  up. 
Onlv  two  horses  were  found  in  the  castle,  the  garrison  having  eaten  all  the 
rest. 

On  November  5,  1645,  the  King  took  Banbury  on  his  way  from  Newark  to 
Oxford,  and  dined  in  the  castle,  proceeding  to  Oxford  in  the  afternoon. 

The  second  siege  began  in  January  1646,  Colonel  Edward  Whalley  investing 
the  castle  with  a  force  of  3000  men.  The  governor  was  still  young  Compton, 
with  a  garrison  of  400.  The  Parliament  troops  had  the  advantage  of  possess- 
ing the  friendlv  town,  but  found  the  castle  works  which  had  been  thrown  up 
verv  formidable,  and  thev  suffered  much  by  the  sallies  of  the  garrison.  Whalley 
summoned  the  castle  on  March  i<S,  but  received  a  fierce  defiance  from  Compton, 
and  the  siege  went  on. 

At  last,  in  May,  when  Charles  had  given  himself  up  to  the  Scots  armv,  and  his 
affairs  were  desperate,  further  resistance  seemed  useless,  and  highly  honourable 
terms  were  agreed  on  for  the  delivery  of  the  fortress,  which  was  given  up  after  a 
siege  of  fifteen  weeks.  Immediately  after  an  Order  of  the  House  was  sent  to  see 
to  the  dismantling  of  the  building,  which  resulted  in  its  being  "  slighted."  Two 
years  later,  however,  its  further  destruction  was  determined  on,  and  this  was 
carried  out,  the  materials  being  sold  and  distributed  in  the  town.  The  sum  of 
;^20oo  was  paid  to  Lord  Saye  and  Sele  as  compensation  for  the  loss  he  thus 
suffered. 

The  gatehouse  of  the  castle  stood  at  the  N.E.  of  the  market-place,  where  the 
Cuttle  Brook  formed  the  outer  moat.  In  1792  the  property  was  sold  bvthe  Save 
and  Sele  family  to  some  persons  of  the  name  of  Goldbv. 


BROUGHTON  {chief) 

THIS  seat  of  the  barons  of  Saye,  which  lies  2f  miles  from  Banbury,  is 
believed  to  have  been  founded  (29  Edward  I.,  1301)  by  John  de  Broughton, 
who  had  a  charter  of  free-warren  here  and  elsewhere  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I., 
and  the  style  of  building  perfectly  agrees  with  this  date  (Parker).  Sir  Thomas 
de  Broughton  was  in  possession  here  in  1369,  but,  probably,  soon  after  that  date, 


OXFORDSHIRE 


'53 


William  of  Wvkeham,  who  was  inadL-  Bishop  of  W'incIiestLT  in   13^)6,  purchased 

Hroui^hton  of  that  family,  and  settled  it  on  the  family  of  his  sister  Aj^nes,  who 

was  married  to  William  Champneis.     She  had  a  daufjiiter,  AHce,  who  became  the 

wife  of  William   Perot,   and  we  lind  their  son,  as  Thomas  Wickham,  armij^er, 

obtaininj^  a  licence   from    Henry   l\'.  in    1406,  two  years  after  the   death  of  the 

bishop,  his  ^reat  uncle,  to  crenellate  his  house  of  Hrouj^hton,  he  liavmj;  assumed 

tlie    name   of   Wykeham,   and    beinjj    afterwards   knijilited.     Sir   Thomas'   son, 

William    Wykeham,    had    a 

dauj^hter    and    heiress,    who 

inherited     Brouj4hton,      and 

married      William,      second 

Lord   Save    and    Sele  (killed  '*'" 

at  Harnet,  1471),  thus  brin;^- 

iiit^    the     pioperty    into    her 

liusbaiid's    tamiiv,    where    it 

still  continues  after  four  and 

a    half    centuries    of    jiosses- 

sion. 

Much  historical  interest 
must  ever  attach  to  two 
localities  where  the  leaders 
of  the  puritan  and  malcon- 
tent   party    in    the    reif;n    of 

Charles  1.  held  their  secret  meetinj^s,  which  resulted  in  the  civil  war;  one  of 
these  was  Rrou^hton  Castle,  the  house  of  the  Lord  Saye  and  Sele,  about  whom 
Clarendon  wrote  that  he  "  had  the  deepest  hand  in  all  the  evils  that  befel  the 
unhappy  kingdom;"  the  other  was  l-'awsley,  the  home  of  Richard  Knightley, 
whose  eldest  son  had  married  the  favourite  daughter  of  Hampden.  At  these 
two  places,  Pym,  Hampden,  St.  John,  Lord  Saye  and  Sele  (who  was  considered 
"the  godfather  of  the  puritan  party "'),  Essex,  Lord  Holland,  Xat  Fiennes,  and 
others  of  rank,  held  their  meetings.  At  Broughton  there  was  a  chamber  to 
which  a  private  passage  led,  and  when  these  conspirators  assembled  in  it  they 
came  secretly,  and  no  servants  were  allowed  to  know  anything  as  to  the  attend- 
ance or  the  business. 

The  family  of  Saye  is  of  ancient  derivation,  and  is  traceable,  through  females, 
to  the  eleventh  century.  Geoffry  dc  Saye  was  one  of  the  twenty-live  barons 
charged  with  the  care  of  the  observance  of  the  (ireat  Charier.  What  is  said  by 
Beesley  (in  a  long  note)  regarding  this  familv  having  originated  from  the  worth- 
less scoundrel,  Falk  de  Brent  (Kalcasius  de  iireaute),  the  servile  tool  of  King 
John,  is  not  trustworthy  :  Breaute  could  not  be  Broughton. 

In  Parker's  "  Domestic  Architecture  of  the  Fourteenth  Century"  (vol.ii.  p.  261) 
a  very  full  description  is  given  of  Broughton  Castle,  with  a  plan  of  tlie  house  and 
VOL.  1.  '' 


BROUGHTON 


154  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

several  views  of  it.  Tlie  structure  is  entirely  surrounded  witii  a  very  broad  moat, 
perhaps  the  largest  in  the  kingdom,  the  only  entrance  being  by  a  bridge  and 
gatehouse  on  the  S.  side.  Viewed  from  the  N.W.  it  has  the  appearance  of  a  tine 
Elizabethan  mansion,  but  this  is  due  to  alterations  at  the  W.  end,  and  to  the 
grand  bav  windows  added  by  the  Kiennes  family  in  2  Mary.  On  examination 
it  will  be  found  that  almost  the  whole  of  the  main  building  of  the  De  Broughtons 
of  the  fourteenth  century  still  remains  in  complete  preservation,  particularly  at 
the  E.  end.  The  great  hall  is  there  with  its  solar,  the  kitchens  beyond  this  being 
converted  into  magnificent  dining-  and  drawing-rooms,  witii  the  addition  of  the 
great  bay  windows.  Then,  from  the  S.E.  end  of  the  hall,  a  splendid  groined 
corridor  runs  to  the  end  of  the  ancient  house  and  round  to  the  S.  front,  giving 
access  to  the  other  rooms,  and,  by  a  newel  staircase,  to  the  upper  floors.  The 
chapel,  which  is  on  the  upper  storey,  is  approached  by  a  long  flight  of  steps  from 
this  passage  ;  it  is  small,  but  occupies  the  height  of  two  storeys,  and  has  a  hne 
geometric  E.  window.  On  the  roof  are  two  apartments  :  one  with  a  good 
chimney,  which  is  called  the  guardroom;  and  another  large  apartment  occupying 
the  whole  roof  of  the  E.  end,  which  is  called  the  barrack,  and  was  occupied  the 
night  before  the  battle  of  Edgehill  by  Lord  Saye  and  Sele's  regiment. 

The  work  of  the  fifteenth  century,  by  Sir  Thomas  Wykeham,  must  have  been 
the  walls  within  the  moat  and  surrounding  the  whole  (portions  of  which  remain), 
the  offices  adjoining  the  gatehouse,  and  the  upper  storey  of  this  (the  lower  storey 
being  De  Broughton's  work),  the  embattled  part  containing  the  kitchen,  the 
guardroom,  and  the  windows  of  the  room  over  the  chapel. 

The  work  of  the  sixteenth  century  has  been  alluded  to  already.  Altogether 
this  castle  is  a  most  interesting  building.  The  gatehouse  is  of  two  different  dates, 
the  lower  part  being  of  the  fourteenth  centurv,  while  the  upper  storey  is  certainly 
of  the  fifteenth  (Parker). 

DEDDINGTON   {non-cxislent) 

EAST  of  the  town  of  that  name,  which  lies  near  the  border  of  Northants,  are 
extensive  ranges  of  grass-covered  mounds,  the  sole  remains  of  a  castle  of 
great  strength  and  consequence  that  flourished  here  800  years  ago.  It  was 
surrounded  by  a  wide  ditch,  which  is  quite  traceable,  but  its  stones  have  been 
sought  for  as  building  material  on  all  sides  and  have  vanished.  The  whole  covers 
an  area  of  six  acres. 

Dugdale  and  Kennet  say  that  the  manor  of  Deddington  had  in  10  Richard  I. 
a  castle  fortified  on  it,  which  soon  after  belonged  to  Guy  de  Diva,  and  was 
afterwards  seized  by  King  John,  who  held  it  in  1204.  In  1215,  when  the  resistance 
of  the  barons  had  begun,  William  Malet,  Baron  of  Curig  Malet,  Somerset,  was 
disseised  of  his  manor  of  Deddington,  which  he  had  obtained  by  marriage  with 
the  daughter  of  Thomas  Basset,  of  Headington,  and  the  same  vear  the   king 


OXFORDSHIRE  155 

granted  to  Robert  M.iiidit  and  Alan  dc  Hoclauiul  the  cattle  ul  iJcddington  to  keep 
during  his  pleasure. 

According  to  Leiand,  this  Xorman  castle  was  dismantled  temp.  HenrN'  VIII., 
but  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  its  ruins  have  been  used  a>  a  ijuarry.  There  was 
enough  left  of  the  structure  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  hold  a  garrison  for  the 
king,  and  accordingly  it  was  besieged  by  the  Parliament  in  1644.  It  was 
freiiuently  used  at  that  time  as  a  temporary  fortress  by  both  sides,  and  after  the 
light  at  Copredy  Bridge,  the  army  of  Charles  rested  here  a  night,  the  king  being 
housed  in  the  \illage. 

The  chief  historical  interest  of  the  place  attaches  to  the  year  1312,  when  Piers 
Gaveston,  the  companion  of  Edward  11.  (mv  ToNBKlDUE,  &c.),  had  fallen  into 
his  enemies'  hands  at  Scarborough  ((/.;•.).  Here,  with  the  promise  of  life,  he  was 
conunitted  to  the  custody  of  the  Karl  of  Pembroke,  who  proposed  to  convey  hun 
to  the  King  at  Wallingford  Castle  ;  but  on  arriving  at  Deddington,  the  carl 
handed  over  Gaveston  to  some  of  his  guards,  for  confmement  during  the 
night  in  this  castle,  while  he  and  his  countess  went  to  lodge  at  an  adjacent 
village.  It  seems  that — perhaps  by  collusion  with  Pembroke— Guy  de  Heauchamp, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  whose  implacable  enmity  Gaveston  had  incurred  by  calling  him 
"the  lilack  Dog  of  Arden,"  learning  about  this  resting-place  and  the  fact  of  his 
being  weakly  guarded,  came  during  the  night  with  a  strong  force  to  Ueddington. 
In  the  morning,  Gaveston  was  aroused  early  and  told  to  dress  speedily,  and  on 
descending  into  the  courtyard,  found  himself  in  the  presence  of  his  deadly  enemy, 
the  Black  Dog.  He  was  put  on  a  mule,  and  carried  oflf,  "  with  shouts  of  triumph 
and  music,"  to  Warwick  Castle.  There  he  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  Earl 
of  Lancaster,  the  head  of  the  cabal,  calling  him  his  "gentle  lord";  but  all  in  vain  : 
he  was  hurried  awav  to  Pjlaeklow  Ilill,  near  Guy's  Cliff,  and  tiare  beheaded. 

A  monument,  with  an  inscription,  has  been  placed  on  the  spot  in  modern 
times,  recording  the  tragedy. 

GREYS  COL'RT  {„ii,ior) 

GREYS  COURT  is  situated  3  miles  W.  of  Henley.  The  manor  was  pur- 
chased in  the  reign  of  John  by  Walter  de  Grey,  Archbishop  of  York,  who 
bequeallad  p. 11 1  of  it  to  his  brother,  Robert  de  tjrey,  and  the  rest  to  his  nephew 
Walter  (temp.  Henry  111.).  A  licence  to  crenellate  was  obtained  by  John  de  Grey, 
in  134X,  from  Edward  III.,  this  John  being  Baron  of  Rotherlield  in  1361  ;  and 
from  this  family  the  parish  is  called  Rotherlield  Greys. 

Robert,  Lord  Grey,  dying  >./•.  male,  his  only  daughter  Joan  brought  the 
property  to  her  husband,  Sir  John  d'Eyncourt  ;  but  as  they  had  only  two 
daughters,  the  estate  went  with  one  of  them,  Alice,  m  marriage  tn  William,  I-ord 
Lovel,  and  continued  in  that  family  till  the  attainder  of  Francis,  Viscount 
Lovel,   after   the    Battle   of   Stoke,    where   he   supported    the    Lambert    Sinmel 


156 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


^ 

^^ 

w^ 

^ 

^^^- 

'  """"^ 

^ ' 

'libM 

ttduNt^ 

■  m^m^ 

insurrection  against  Henry  VII.,  and  where  he  was  said  to  have  been  drowned  in 
escaping  across  the  river  Trent  (.w  Castle  Caky,  Somerset).  Another  tradition 
makes  him  to  have  lived  long  after  in  a  cave  or  vault.  In  Banks'  "Dormant  and 
Extinct  Baronage,"  however,  is  given  a  letter  written  by  William  Cowper,  Clerk 
to  the  Parliament,  in  1737,  which  states  :  "  Apropos  to  this  tradition  :  on  the  6th  of 

May,  1728,  the  present  Duke  of 
Rutland  related  in  my  hearing 
(hat  about  twenty  years  then 
before — viz.,  in  1708,  upon  occa- 
sion of  new  laying  a  chimney  at 
Minster  Luvel  (Oxfordshire), 
there  was  discovered  a  large 
vault  or  room  under  ground,  in 
which  was  the  entire  skeleton  of 
a  man,  as  having  been  sitting  at 
a  table,  which  was  before  him, 
with  a  book,  paper,  pen,  &c. 
&c. ;  in  another  part  of  the 
room  lay  a  cap,  all  much  moul- 
dered and  decayed.  Wliich  the 
family  and  others  judged  to  be 
this  Lord  Luvel,  whose  exit  has 
hitherto  been  so  uncertain." 
And  in  Cough's  "Additions  to 
Camden"  (ed.  1789)  the  same 
circiunstance  is  narrated,  with 
the  addition,  that  the  clothing 
of  the  body  seemed  to  have  been 
rich ;  that  it  was  seated  in  a 
chair,  at  a  table  with  a  mass- 
book  before  it  ;  and  also  that, 
upon  the  admission  of  the  air, 
the  body  soon  fell  to  dust.  As  the  Battle  of  Stoke  was  fought  on  June  16, 
1487,  some  220  years  must  have  passed  before  the  discovery  of  the  fate  of  this 
poor  creature,  a  victim,  possibly,  to  the  neglect  of  a  servant  or  friend. 

Henry  VI 1.  gave  the  estate  to  Jasper,  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  Henry  VI II. 
presented  it  to  Robert  Knollys,  whose  descendant,  namely  the  Treasurer  of  the 
household,  Sir  Francis  Knollys,  was  in  possession  of  Greys  Court  in  the  time  of 
Elizabeth.  FVom  him  it  came  to  the  Paul  family,  and  about  the  year  1700  to 
the  Stapletons,  by  the  marriage  of  Catherine,  the  heiress  of  William  Paul  of 
Braywick,  Berks,  to  Sir  William  Stapleton,  Bart.,  in  which  family  the  place 
continues,  the  present  owner  being  Sir  Francis  Stapleton,  Bart. 


GREYS  COURT 


OXFORDSHIRE 


'57 


(Jreys  Court  stands  on  sloping  }»roiuul,  havin{«  a  steep  declivity  to  the  S.,  over- 
lookinf»  the  valley ;  the  original  encUjsure  formed  an  irregular  parallelogram 
covering  li  acres,  and  the  mansion-house  of  the  seventeenth  century  stands 
altogetiier  within  this  area  on  the  W.  side.  Only  the  outer  wall  of  the  E.  side 
remains  of  the  ancient  castle,  but  four  of  its  towers  still  exist.  There  is  a  square 
one  in  the  N.E.  corner,  set  diagonally,  with  two  buttresses  at  the  outer  angles  ; 
this  probably  had  four  storeys,  but  the  two  upper  ones  are  gone,  and  the  tower  is 
much  ruined.  About  48  feet  S.  of  this  angle  bastion  is  another  square  tower 
projecting  from  the  curtain  wall,  which  contained  four  storeys,  and  is  surmounted 
with  battlements,  at  an  elevation  of  about  54  feet ;  the  lower  stages  of  both  towers 
h;i\c  loops  or  Dillcts.  The  wall  joining  these,  as  well  as  the  towers  themselves, 
arc  certainly  the  work  of  John  de  tJrey. 

Further  S.  of  this  portion  the  E.  wall  still  remains,  though  in  reduced 
thickness,  as  far  as  the  S.E.  corner,  where  is  an  octangular  tower,  16  feet  in 
diameter  externally,  containing  three  storeys,  surmounted  with  a  low  conical 
roof,  which  rises  from  inside  the  parapet.  A  similar  tower  terminated  the 
other  ciul  of  the  S.  front  curtain,  but  this  has  disappeared,  as  has  also  the 
tower  at  the  X.W.  corner  of  the  fortress.  The  length  of  the  S.  front  was 
about  340  feet,  and  that  of  the  K.  wall  J 10,  but  both  the  X.  and  W.  curtains 
have  vanished.  The  towers  anil  walls  are  built  of  flint,  with  stone  quoms  and 
dressings. 

There  is  a  small  brick  Inukluig  attached  to  the  lower  at  the  S.E.  angle,  to 
which  tile  ii.uiie  of  "  Bachelors'  Hall"  is  given, on  account  of  a  leaden  inscription 
on  it  of  the  seventeenth  ceiiliiry,  having  the  words  Melius  nil  calihc  vila,  the 
derivation  of  which  is  not  known.  .\lso  on  the  line  of  the  old  S.  wall,  near  the 
S.W.  angle,  is  a  hiiikliiig  containing  the  castle  well,  which  has  been  sunk 
210  feet  into  the  chalk,  and  is  worked  by  a  donkey  wheel,  as  is  done  at  Caris- 
brooke  and  Patcham.  .AH  the  brickwt)rk  is  excellent,  the  bricks  being  of  very 
small  size. 

The  existing  mansion  retains  three  gables  and  several  windows  w ith  transoms 
and  muUions  of  perhaps  the  hfteenth  century  ;  it  is  mostly  of  brick.  Here  lived 
for  a  long  time  the  worthless  favourite  of  James  1.,  Fiobert  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset, 
and  his  wife,  the  ilivorcc'c  Countess  of  Essex.  Carr  was  brought  from  Scotland 
as  a  jiage  by  James,  and,  some  years  later,  was  knighted  by  him  and  endowed 
with  Raleigh's  lands  and  house  of  Sherborne.  It  was  to  the  widow  of  that 
great  man,  pleading  in  vain  for  the  restitution  of  her  children's  property, 
that  the  refusal  was  made  as  related  under  Sherborne  (i/.:.).  Carr  was 
afterwards  made  Lord  Rochester,  and,  in  i')!^,  Karl  of  Somerset.  In  i')i4,  he 
and  his  wife  were  tried  for  the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overburv,  bv  poison 
administered  to  him  in  the  Tower,  in  revenge  for  his  opposition  to  Ladv  Essex's 
divorce,  when  they  were  found  ginlty,  Eady  Somerset,  indeed,  pleading  guilty. 
James  had  no  intention,  however,  of  allowing  either  of  them  to  be  executed,  and 


1^8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

kept  them  in  the  Tower  till  January  1622,  when  they  both  received  a  pardon,  and 
Somerset  retired  into  obscurity  until  his  death  in  1645. 

Skelton  gives  a  drawing  of  the  old  towers  of  Greys  Court. 

HAN  WELL   {minor) 

HA\\VP:LL  lies  T,  miles  X.W.  of  Banbury.  The  Rawlinson  MSS.  declare  that 
till.-  manor  of  Hanwell  belonged  to  Ralph  de  Verdun,  and  afterwards  passed 
through  the  Arden  family,  and  thence  by  marriage  to  Ludovic  Greville,  from 
whom  it  came  to  William  Cope,  or  Coope,  cofferer  to  Henry  VII.,  who  became 
the  lessee  of  the  neighbouring  lands  and  mansion  of  Hardwick  in  1496, 
purchasing  also  several  estates  in  the  vicinity.  His  ancestor,  John  Cope,  was  a 
person  of  note  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  obtaining  for  his  services  to  that  king 
the  manor  of  Denshanger,  Northants.  William  Cope  married  first,  Agnes, 
daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Harcourt,  the  standard-bearer  to  Henry  at  Bosworth  ; 
and,  secondlv,  Jane,  daughter  of  John  Spencer  of  Warwick,  by  whom  he  may  have 
obtained  Hanwell,  if  he  did  not  purchase  it  of  the  Greviles.  Leland  (temp. 
Henry  VIII.),  speaks  of  his  "  very  pleasant  and  gallant  house"  at  Hanwell. 

It  was  a  great  quadrangular  structure,  having  a  frontage  of  109  feet,  and  at 
each  of  the  four  corners  was  a  large  square  tower,  like  a  gatehouse,  with  lofty 
octagonal  turrets.  Between  these  the  faces  of  the  building  were  plain,  with 
buttresses,  and  round  the  lop  of  the  whole  building  ran  a  battlemented  parapet. 
The  principal  entrance  was  through  a  broad  arched  gateway  in  the  W'.  front.  A 
drawing  of  the  building,  as  it  originally  stood,  is  given  by  Skelton.  The  towers 
were  in  three  storeys,  each  having  three  large  rooms,  to  which  access  was  gained 
by  a  winding  stair  to  the  top  of  the  turret.  The  whole  was  of  excellent 
brickwork. 

The  tower  of  the  S.W.  corner  alone  remains  at  the  present  day,  as  the  whole 
structure,  with  the  exception  of  this  building — now  used  as  a  farmhouse — was 
pulled  down  in  1770.  The  great  kitchen  of  the  S.  front  (now  used  as  a  dairy) 
and  the  adjoining  room  have  curious  fireplaces,  placed  back  to  back. 

From  the  central  room  of  the  present  tower  a  gallery,  it  is  said,  extended  to 
the  church,  standing  on  adjacent  high  ground  called  Gallery  Hill. 

The  eldest  son  of  William  Cope,  by  his  second  wife,  was  Anthony  Cope,  wli 
was  a  learned  man  m  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  had  grants  of  land  from  that 
King  ;  he  was  Vice-Chamberlain  to  Queen  Catherine  Parr,  and  was  created  a 
Knight  of  the  Carpet  at  the  coronation  of  Edward  VI.,  dving  in  1551. 

His  descendant,  Sir  James  Cope,  Bart.,  of  Hanwell  (died  1638)  left  a  son,  a 
child  of  six.  Sir  Anthony  Cope,  who  became  a  staunch  Royalist,  and  made 
Hanwell  Castle  a  secret  rendezvous  for  the  plotters  of  the  Restoration,  as 
Broughton  and  P'awsley  were  used  on  the  opposite  side  before  the  Great 
Rebellion.     In  this  he  had  the  assistance  of  Richard  Allestree,  an  Oxonian,  who 


o 


OXKORDSHIKE 


59 


had  foiif^ht  at  Edf^chill  and  Worcester,  and  liad  afterwards  taken  lioly  orders. 
Allestree  made  several  dilticnll  visits  to  Charles  11.  in  exile,  and  was  carefully 
watched  by  Cromwell,  but  the  proceeding's  at  the  headquarters  of  Hanwell  were 
carried  on  with  the  strictest  secrecy,  and  their  plans  were  successfully  carried 
out. 


OXFORD    (minor) 

WHKX  O.xford  closed  its  gates  against  the  Conqueror,  and  he  had  stormed 
and  taken  the  city,  it  followed  that  he  should  take  measures  to  keep  the 

people  of  the  place  in  subjection.     Accordingly,  having  bestowed  the  town  on  his 

faithful  follower,  Robert  d'Oilgi,  or  D'Oiley  or  D"Oyly,  he  directed  him  to  build 

and  fortify  a  strong  castle  here,  which  the  Chronicles  of  Osney  Abbey  tell  us  he 

did    between    the   years   107 1  and   1073, 

"  cl'{ig''ig    deep    trenches  to   make    the 

river  flow  round  about  it,  and  made  high 

mounds   with    lofty    towers    and    walls 

thereon,  to  overtop  the  town  and  coimtry 

about  it."     But,  as  was  usual  with    the 

Xorman    castles,   the    site     chosen     by 

D'Ovlv  was  no  new  one,  but  the  same 

that    had  been   long  before  adopted  by 

the  kings  of  Mercia  for  their  residence  ; 

the    mound,   or    burli,    which    was    now 

seized    for  the   Xorman    keep    had   sus- 
tained   the    royal    house   of    timber    in 

which    had    dwelt  Offa,  and  Alfred  and 

his  sons,  and  Harold  Harefoot. 

If  we  turn  to  the  account  of  Walling- 
ford  Castle  in  Berkshire,  it  appears  that 
Robert    D'Oyly,    who  had  accompanied 

William  in  his  progress  to  Wallingford,  whither  he  had  been  invited  by  the 
Saxon  noble  Wigod,  had  already  erected  a  strong  fortress  at  that  place,  and  it 
is  evident,  from  the  scanty  remains  at  both  sites  and  from  old  plans  and 
accounts,  that  these  two  strongholds  bore  a  close  resemblance  to  each  other  in 
all  points. 

In  the  Bodleian  Library  is  an  MS.  by  Anthony  a  Wood,  written  about  1O82, 
which  is  given  by  Sir  John  Peshall  in  his  book  on  the  antiquities  of  Oxford  ;  this 
describes  the  fortifications  of  O.xford  Castle,  which  was  built  on  the  W.  of  the 
city,  close  to  the  river  Isis,  that  protected  it  on  that  side,  the  water  defences 
being  carried  round  from  the  S.,  and  by  the  E.  side  to  the  X.W.,  by  an  artificial 
cut,  through  which  the  stream  w;is  diverted  in  a  broad  and  deep  moat. 


THE  FORTRESS  OF  OXFORD 

Existing  Tower  of  St.  3    Saxon  Crypt. 

George.  4     Dwellings. 

Church  of  St.  George.  5     Well. 

6     Henry  III.  s  Tower. 


,6o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

The  southern  and  chief  approach  to  the  castle  was  from  what  is  now  Castle 
Street  bv  a  bridj^e  40  paces  lon<4  across  the  moat,  and  through  an  embattled 
passage,  between  walls  defended  by  portcullises  and  machicoulis,  through  the 
gateway  into  the  castle  yard.  Here,  on  tlie  left,  at  the  end  of  the  bridge,  stood 
one  of  the  mural  towers,  from  which  a  curtain  wall  extended  on  the  left  to  a 
lar"e  round  tower,  from  the  other  side  of  which  "a  fair  embattled  wall"  ran  to 
the  S.E.  corner  of  a  huge  square  bastion,  called  St.  George's  Tower,  and  still 
existing,  close  to  Die  null  and  weir  on  the  river.  F'rom  the  opposite  corner  of  this 
bastion,  the  curtain  wall  joined  the  fortifications  of  another  bridge  crossing  the 
Isis  on  the  N.  side,  called  the  Osney  Bridge,  which  had  a  gatehouse  and  turret, 
the  whole  of  which  has  disappeared.  Eastward  of  this  bridge  the  wall  continued 
with  a  covered  way  and  steps  ascending  the  great  mound  up  to  the  "  shell " 
keep,  built  upon  its  summit  not  later  than  the  time  of  Maud,  if  it  is  not  the  work 
of  D'Oyly  himself. 

The  top  of  the  mound  is  60  feet  above  the  general  level,  and  measures  40  feet 
in  diameter,  and  it  was  enclosed  at  its  foot  by  a  thick  stone  wall,  as  was  the 
mound  of  Windsor.  The  summit  was  occupied  by  a  shell  tower  built  in  the  form 
of  a  decagon,  the  foundations  of  which  were  discovered  at  the  end  of  the  last 
century.  From  the  E.  side  of  this  the  wall  descended  the  side  of  the  mound  to 
another  mural  tower,  of  which  towers  there  were  three  on  the  E.  side,  connected 
by  curtains. 

The  ruins  of  these,  and  of  two  barbicans  or  outworks,  are  said  to  have  been 
standing  in  1649,  when  four  of  the  towers  were  pulled  down  in  order  to  erect 
some  new  works  for  the  Parliamentary  garrison.  This  enclosure  then  formed 
one  large  enceinte,  and  no  traces  of  any  inner  ballium  wall  have  ever  been  dis- 
covered within  this  area. 

Robert  D'Oyly  afterwards,  in  concert  with  his  comrade  in  arms,  John  d'lvry, 
erected  a  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  George,  against  the  large  tower,  called  by  the 
same  name,  on  the  W.  line  of  wall.  This  chapel  has  disappeared,  but  at  the  same 
time  that  excavations  were  made  in  the  mound  there  was  discovered,  at  the  end 
of  the  above  chapel,  a  curious  underground  crypt,  having  four  short  columns 
with  curiously  carved  and  disproportioned  capitals,  supporting  a  groined  stone 
roof.  This  interesting  relic,  which  Sir  John  Peshall  describes  as  Saxon,  was 
destroyed,  as  it  stood,  by  the  town  authorities  of  Oxford,  in  order  to  adapt  the 
site  to  their  new  gaol,  the  crypt  being  rebuilt  in  a  neighbouring  cellar. 

The  high  tower  of  St.  George  formed,  with  the  keep,  the  chief  defence  of  the 
fortress,  and  it  has  been  described  as  originally  of  Saxon  construction.  This 
tower  is  now  all  that  remains  of  the  seven  or  eight  which  constituted  the 
castle  of  Oxford  ;  it  is  30  feet  square  at  its  base,  tapering  upwards  to  a  square  of 
22  feet  at  its  lofty  summit,  where  the  pitch  of  its  original  roof  is  clearly  marked. 
Above  the  roof  the  parapets  rose  another  13  feet,  having  on  opposite  sides  two 
large   openings   for    working    military   engines    for   the   discharge    of    missiles, 


OXFORDSHIRE 


i6i 


supported    on    each    side    with    louplioies    lor    iirches.      Lord    Lyttelton    says 
tliat  the    side   of   the   fortress   covered    by   this    tower    was    deemed    inipre{«- 
iKihle.     Tile  tower  of  St.  George  is  said  to  have   been  used  as  a  belfry  to  the 
chapel    below,  into  the  W. 
end    of   which    an  entrance 
has     been    formed,    having 
a   circular-headed    Xorman 
arch. 

The  excavations  in  the 
great  mound  also  laid  bare 
a  covered  stone  staircase 
leading  to  a  small  hexago- 
nal chamber,  with  a  vaulted 
and  ribbed  roof,  in  the 
centre  of  the  mound,  12  feet 
in  diameter  and  1 2  feet 
high,  in  the  middle  of  which 
was  a  circular  stone  well, 
54  feet  deep,  which,  liein- 
cleaned  out,  yielded  a  (.pian- 
tity  of  bones  of  horses  and 
dogs,  with  several  horse- 
shoes, and,  at  a  greater 
depth,  some  human  skele- 
tons. A  line  spring  of  water 
resulted  on  the  well  being 
cleared.  Furl  her  digging 
round  this  chamber  dis- 
covered the  foundations  of 
the  shell  keep,  concentric 
with  this  vault,  which  seem^ 
to  have  been  on  the  plan 
of  those  of  Tonbridge,  Arun-  ,.a,.  .kd 

del  and  Cardiff,  having  tlie 

lodgings    built    round    the    interior,   leaving    only   an    air    space    in    the    centre, 
22  feet  across. 

The  second  Robert  iJOyly,  son  to  Nigel,  the  brother  of  the  founder,  who 
succeeded  his  uncle,  and  founded  the  monastery  of  Osney,  near  by,  took  part 
against  Stephen,  and  delivered  up  his  castle  of  Oxford  to  the  Empress  Maud  for 
her  residence.  She  accordingly  came  here  with  great  state  in  1141,  with  a 
company  of  barons  who  had  prouused  to  protect  her  during  the  absence  of  her 
brother,  the  Earl  of  Gloucester,  in  France,  whither  he  had  gone  to  bring  back 
vol..  I.  X 


i62  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Prince  Henry.  Gloucester  and  Stephen  had  only  recently  been  exchanged 
a-'ainst  each  other,  the  Earl  from  Rochester  and  Stephen  from  Bristol,  and  the 
latter  lost  no  time  in  opening  afresh  the  civil  war,  by  at  once  marching  rapidly 
and  unexpectedly  to  Oxford.  Here  he  set  fire  to  the  town  and  captured  it.  He 
tliLii  proceeded  to  shut  up  closely  and  to  besiege  Maud  in  the  castle,  from 
iMichacluias  to  Christmas,  trying  to  starve  out  her  garrison,  whilst  from  two  high 
mounds  which  he  raised  against  the  keep,  the  one  called  Mount  Pelham,  and  the 
other  Jew's  Mount,  he  constantly  battered  the  walls  and  defences  with  his  engines 
of  war,  which  threw  stones  and  bolts. 

Maud,  who  was  a  mistress  of  stratagems  and  resources — she  had  escaped  from 
Winchester  Castle  on  a  swift  horse,  by  taking  advantage  of  a  pretended  truce 
on  account  of  the  ceremonies  of  Holy  Cross,  and  had  at  Devizes  been  carried 
through  the  enemies  lines  dressed  out  as  a  corpse  in  a  funeral  procession — was 
equal  to  the  occasion  when  provisions  failed.  Taking  advantage  of  a  keen 
frost  which  had  frozen  over  the  Isis,  she  issued  one  night  from  a  postern,  and 
crossed  the  river  on  the  ice,  accompanied  only  by  three  faithful  followers.  The 
countrv  being  covered  with  deep  snow,  they  wore  white  garments  over  their 
clothes,  and  succeeded  in  eluding  their  enemies,  walking  through  the  snow  six 
long  miles  to  Abingdon.  Here  a  horse  was  obtained  for  the  Empress,  and  the 
party  got  safely  next  morning  to  Wallingford  Castle  (Berks,  (/.!■.).  After  her 
escape,  Oxford  Castle  was  yielded  to  Stephen  the  next  day. 

During  the  siege,  the  students  and  townsmen  not  having  access  to  the  chapel 
of  St.  George  in  the  castle,  a  new  church  was  built  near  by  for  their  accommoda- 
tion by  the  monks  of  Osney,  and  this  is  now  known  as  the  church  of  St.  Thomas. 
As  no  proper  dwellings  for  royalty  existed  in  this  castle,  the  palace  of  Beau- 
mont was  built,  or  was  finished,  by  Stephen,  and  became  a  favourite  residence  of 
Henry  II.,  three  of  whose  sons,  including  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion,  were  born  in 
it.  So,  in  time,  the  castle  fell  into  neglect  and  decay  ;  and  though  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  II.  it  was  put  into  a  state  of  defence  and  victualled,  in  the  time  of 
Edward  III.,  who  chose  Woodstock  for  his  abode,  this  castle  had  become  ruinous 
from  disrepair.  Henry  III.  had  in  the  previous  century  done  much  for  the 
fortress,  building  the  Round  Tower  (the  next  to  St.  George's)  and  repairing 
the  bridges. 

Grose  gives  a  view  of  the  castle  copied  from  one  by  Ralph  Agus,  made  in 
157^'  but  its  incorrectness  is  shown  by  Peshall ;  it  is  given  by  Skelton  entire. 
In  the  seventeenth  century  the  castle  was  placed  in  a  state  of  defence  for  King 
Charles,  and  was  demolished,  as  before  mentioned,  in  1649. 

Grose  affirms  that  in  1751  nothing  was  left  except  the  great  tower  now 
standing,  which  was  used  as  a  county  prison,  and  some  of  the  curtain  wall 
attached  to  it.  Below  the  mount,  in  the  castle  yard,  were  the  remains  of  the 
ancient  sessions  house,  a  relic,  probably,  of  the  old  hall,  as  at  Leicester,  wherein, 
in  1577,  was  held  "the  Black  Assize,"  so  called  from  a  distemper  brought  by 


OXFORDSHIRE  163 

prisoners,  of  wliich  tlie  lieutenant  of  the  county,  two  knij^hts,  ci^lity  gentlemen 
and  justices  of  the  peace,  and  almost  all  the  grand  jury,  died  "  from  the  poisonous 
smell  of  the  gaol."     A  large  number  of  persons  also  in  the  town  were  attacked. 


SHIRBURX  {chic/) 

THE  castle  of  Shirbum  l^  in  I'irton  Hundred,  near  Watlington,  in  the  S.W.  of 
the  county.  An  earlier  castle  certainly  occupied  this  site,  erected,  as  some 
say,  by  the  Xorman,  Robert  D'Oyley,  the  builder  of  Wallingford  and  Oxford  Castles, 
the  land^i  having  been  granted  to  him  by  the  Conqueror.  In  1141  the  castle  was 
delivered  up  to  the  Empress  Maud  in  return  for  the  release  of  King  Stephen's 
sewer,  William  Martel.  Camden  says  that  the  barony  and  manor  were  held  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  111.  by  Henry  de  Tyeis,  under  Richard,  King  of  the  Romans, 
and  Earl  of  Cornwall,  who  obtained  a  charter  of  free-warren  in  28  Edward  I. 
He  died  in  1307,  and  on  the  death  of  his  only  son  Henry,  i.p.,  this  castle  was 
brought  in  marriage  by  his  daughter  Alice  to  W'arine  de  L'Isle,  who,  in  1321, 
joined  with  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  Lord  Badlesmere  (sec  Leeds,  Sl'SSEX), 
and  other  nobles,  in  their  conspiracy  against  King  Edward  II.  and  the 
Despencers  ;  and  it  was  at  Sliirbuiii  tliat  thcv  met  to  lorm  their  plans.  After 
their  disastrous  defeat  at  Boroughbridge,  de  L'Isle  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was 
hanged  by  the  king  at  York.  His  grandson  W'arine,  the  second  baron,  participated 
in  the  glories  of  the  French  wars  under  Edward  111.,  and  having  doubtless 
amassed  wealth  tiiere,  he  obtained  a  licence  to  crenellate  his  abode  in  1377,  at 
which  date  we  may  conclude  the  existing  structure  to  have  been  built.  He  died 
6  Richard  II.,  leaving  a  daughter  and  heir,  Margaret,  the  wife  of  Thomas,  Lord 
Berkeley,  and  their  only  child,  Elizabeth,  who  was  married  to  Richard  Beanchamp, 
twelfth  Earl  of  Warwick,  inherited  Shirburn.  Thence  it  is  said  to  have  gone  for  a 
time  to  the  Talbots,  and  subsequently,  according  to  an  MS.  quoted  in  the  "  Memoir 
of  Shirburn  Castle,"  by  Mary  Frances,  Countess  of  Macclesfield,  the  estate  was 
granted  in  1426  to  the  Quatremaynes,  an  O.xfordshire  family.  Of  them  Leland 
relates  that,  by  a  succession  of  deaths,  they  came  to  an  end  (temp.  Henry  \'l.)  in 
Richard  Ouatremain,  who  settled  Shirburn  on  "a  servant  caullid  Thomas  Fowler, 
his  clerk,  a  toward  felaw,  that  was  chauncelar  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancastre,"  and 
upon  his  son,  Richard  Ouatremain  Fowler,  who  inherited  and  squandered  the 
estate,  so  that  in  1577  Shirburn  became  bv  exchange  the  property  of  Richard 
Chamberlain,  of  Cotys,  in  Northumberland,  who  had  married  Sibyl,  daughter  of 
this  Richard  Fowler. 

These  Chamberlains  were  a  French  family  originally  descended  from  the 
Tankcrvilles  of  Normandy,  chamberlains  to  the  Dukes  of  Normandy,  who  in 
England  changed  their  name  to  that  of  their  ofiice,  as  did  the  Stewards  and 
others  ;  they  resided  at  Shirburn.  The  last  of  his  race,  John  Chamberlain, 
dying  in  1654,  left  only  daughters,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Mary,  was  married  to  Sir 


,64  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Thomas  Gage,  of  p-irle,  Sussex.  Her  fourth  son,  Joseph  Gage,  inherited  Shirburn 
from  his  mother,  and  Hkewise  his  aunt's  shares  of  the  property.  His  son, 
Tliomas,  created  Viscount  Gage  in  1720,  in  1716  sold  Shirburn  Castle  and 
lands  to  Lord  Thomas  Parker,  Lord  Chief  Justice,  who  in  1718  was  made 
Lord  Chancellor,  and  in  1721  was  further  created  Earl  of  Macclesfield  by 
George  I.  The  castle  and  lands  are  still  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of 
Macclesfield,  his  descendant,  who  continues  to  reside  in  this  grand  fourteenth 
century  fortress. 

During  the  civil  war  of  Charles  1.  Shirburn  was  held  by  a  lady  of  the 
Chamberlain  family  and  her  son,  nominally  for  the  King,  and  with  a  small 
•farrison,  but  in  so  neutral  a  manner  that  no  offensive  measures  were  adopted 
against  the  Parliament  forces,  whose  stronghold  was  at  Henley,  self-defence 
being  mainly  intended.  To  this  policy  may  be  ascribed  the  preservation  of  this 
fine  mcdircval  building  amid  the  wreck  and  ruin  that  fell  upon  almost  all  similar 
structures  in  the  kingdom.  In  June  1646  General  Fairfax  accepted  the  surrender 
of  Siurbnrn  Castle,  which  thereby  escaped  the  disastrous  attentions  of  the  Com- 
mittee in  London. 

The  castle  is  rectangular  in  plan,  having  a  central  open  courtyard,  and  at  each 
of  the  four  exterior  angles  a  massive  round  tower  rising  straight  out  of  the  wide 
and  deep  moat,  which,  supplied  with  running  water  from  springs,  encircles  the 
whole  fabric.  Access  to  the  castle  is  gained  by  crossing  three  drawbridges,  and 
the  summit  of  the  walls  is  battlemented  throughout ;  the  main  entrance  is 
guarded  by  a  portcullis.  The  mediaeval  effect  of  the  ancient  pile  is  somewhat 
impaired  by  the  modern  sash  windows  which  have  been  inserted.  In  Skelton's 
"Antiquities  of  Oxfordshire"  a  large  drawing  of  the  castle  is  given,  showing 
round-headed  windows  throughout  in  the  two  upper  storeys,  the  basement  being 
lighted  by  a  few  oillets  only  ;  there  is  a  view  also  of  the  principal  entrance 
with  its  fine  groined  roof.  So  well  built  is  this  castle  that  the  rooms  below  the 
level  of  the  water  in  the  moat  are  quite  dry. 

It  is  not  easy  to  reconcile  the  above  commonly-received  history  of  the  owner- 
ship of  Shirburn  Castle  with  what  is  said  in  the  curious  and  ancient  letter  of 
Brunetto  Latini,  the  tutor  and  friend  of  Dante,  which  is  given  in  translation  in 
the  Monthly  Mugazine  or  Britlsli  Register  for  June  1802.  Latini  of  Florence  is 
said  to  have  been  the  restorer  of  learning  in  Italy  in  the  thirteenth  century,  a 
philosopher  and  a  magistrate  of  great  account.  Being  a  staunch  Guelphite  he 
was  driven  out  by  the  Ghibellines,  and  sought  refuge  in  France,  whence  he  may 
have  come  over  to  England  with  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  titular  King  of 
the  Romans  and  brother  to  Henry  111.  He  writes  thus,  in  old  romance  French, 
in  a  letter  (which  has  been  preserved  among  several  others)  to  his  friend  in  Italy  : 
"The  Parliament  being  summoned  to  Oxford  1  had  an  opportunity  of  visiting  that 
famous  school.  Our  journey  from  London  to  Oxford  was,  with  some  difficulty 
and  danger,  made  in  two  days  ;  for  the  roads  are  bad,  and  we  had  to  climb  hills 


OXFORDSHIRE  165 

of  hiizardoiis  ascent,  and  wliicli  to  descend  are  eiiually  perilous.  We  passed 
tliroiij^h  many  woods,  considered  liere  as  danj^ennis  places,  as  they  are  infested 
with  robbers,  uiiich,  indeed,  is  the  case  with  most  of  the  roads  in  Knj^land.  This 
is  a  circmnstance  connived  at  by  the  neigiihouriiif^  barons,  from  the  consideration 
of  sharing  in  the  booty,  and  these  robbers  serving  their  protectors  on  all 
occasions,  personally,  and  with  the  whole  strength  of  their  band.  However,  as 
our  company  was  niinierons,  we  had  nothing  to  fear.  Accordingly  we  arrived 
on  the  first  night  at  Shirburn  Castle,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  W'atlington,  under 
the  chain  of  hills  over  which  we  passed  at  Stocquincluirque  (Stokc-nchurch).  This 
castle  was  built  by  the  Earl  of  Tanqucville,  one  of  the  followers  of  William   the 

Bastard,  Duke  of  Xorniandv It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  a  descendant 

of  the  said  earl." 

By  Camden's  account  Henry  de  Tyeis  was  at  that  time  holding  Shirburn 
under  the  Karl  of  Cornwall  (who  probably  brought  Latini  here  in  his  suite),  but 
he,  too,  mav  have  been  of  the  Tankerville  race,  as  the  Chamberlains,  according  to 
Camden,  had  their  seat  here  for  many  generations.  This  may  account  for  that 
family  acquiring  the  place  again  (temp.  Henry  VI 1 1.),  or  the  (^)uartermain  pro- 
prietorship may  have  referred  to  the  manor  only. 

A  douln  has  been  thrown  on  the  authenticity  of  these  letters  of  Brunetto 
Latini,  but  perhaps  undeservedly,  for  the  translator  gives  parts  of  them  in  their 
original  French  of  the  period  in  question.  Much  that  Latini  here  writes  of  his 
visit  to  Friar  Bacon,  at  Oxford,  of  his  being  told  by  him  of  the  invention  of  gun- 
powder, and  of  the  mariner's  compass,  is  curious  and  interesting — if  true.  The 
letter  is  quoted  in  the  Bullet  in  of  the  Paris  Societe  de  Geographic  for  185S  in  a 
paper  by  ^^.  Davezac  upon  the  subject  of  the  magnetic  needle. 

Regarding  castles  Latini  writes:  "As  the  English  barons  arc  frequently 
embroiled  with  their  kings  and  with  each  other  they  take  the  precaution  to  build 
towers  and  high  houses  of  stone,  and  outside  provided  with  ditches,  and  fences, 
and  walls,  and  towers,  and  bridges,  and  portcullises  (portes  colleyces).  El  soiit 
f^aniifs  (If  tiiaii^oiiimis  cl  ilc  faics  el  tic  tonics  chows  qui  licsoignciil  d  guerre  por 
th'lfciulic,  ct  por  girgicr,  cl  por  la  vie  tics  homes  ens  ct  liors  inninlcnir."  He  says  he 
writes  to  his  P'lorentine  friend  in  romance  (ic  Pulois  tic  Fnincc),  because  it  is 
equally  familiar  to  his  correspondent,  "  and  is  constantly  spoken  here  in  the 
Court  of  London,  and  is  also  the  most  delectable  tongue  I  know. " 

S  O  M  E  R  T  O  N   {uon-cxistenl) 

IN'  the  X.  of  the  county,  N.W.  of  the  village  was  a  castle,  on  the  E.  side  of  the 
Cherwell.  .\t  Domesday  Rainald  Wadard  held  Sumertone  of  Bishop  Odo, 
Earl  of  Kent,  after  whose  fall  it  was  conferred  on  the  barony  of  .Arsic  (see 
DovKK).  Robert  Arsic,  siding  with  the  barons  against  King  John,  lost  his  lands, 
but  his  family  regained  them  or  the  chief  interest  in  the  manor,  which  descended 


i66  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

from  them  to  the  families  of  Deyncourt,  Level,  and  Greys  of  Rotherfield.  But  the 
latter  forfeited  it  after  Bosvvorth,  when  the  place  was  bestowed  on  Jasper,  Duke  of 
Bedford,  at  whose  death  it  was  granted  to  William  Fermor,  clerk  of  the  Crown, 
and  his  descendants  held  it  till  early  in  the  present  century.  They  however 
deserted  the  ancient  building  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  in  1817  the  lands  were  sold  to  the  Earl  of  Jersey.  Thomas  Fermor,  who  died 
1580,  granted  as  a  site  for  parish  schools  "  the  Castelle  Yarde  and  the  Chappell 
therein  standing."  Arabella  Fermor  of  this  family  was  the  heroine  of  Pope's 
"Rape  of  the  Lock"  (Gfiiflciiiaii's  Magdziin;  Feb.  1827). 

NON-EXISTENT   CASTLES  (miuor) 

THERE  appear  to  have  been  many  Stephanie  castles  erected  in  this  county, 
which  were  destroyed  either  during  the  civil  war  of  that  period,  or  by 
Henrv  11.  after  his  accession,  and  concerning  the  erection  of  which  little  or 
nothing  is  known.  They  are  mentioned  by  Beesley  and  other  authorities,  and 
arc  as  follows  : 

ARDI^EY,  3^  miles  from  Bicester.  Here,  at  a  furlong  distance  \V.  from  the 
church,  are  some  interesting  remains  of  a  Norman  castle,  built  (temp.  Stephen) 
upon  an  earthen  rampart,  which  Offa  the  Mercian  King  formed  at  the  time  of  the 
separation  of  his  dominions.  They  are  nearly  circular  in  outline,  and  measure 
100  yards  across;  the  work  was  moated  almost  entirely  round,  and  some 
subterranean  passages  now  exist  in  the  ruins.  Skelton  says,  however,  that  as  this 
place  is  one  of  the  best  fox  coverts  in  the  county,  it  is  not  likely  to  be  disturbed 
for  antiquarian  researches. 

BARFORD  ST.  MICHAEL,  2  miles  from  Deddington,  had  formerly  a  small 
castle  which  stood  close  to  the  church. 

At  BECKLEY,  4^  miles  N.E.  of  Oxford,  was  a  castle  standing  on  an 
eminence  on  the  S.  side  of  Otraoor,  in  the  Hundred  of  Bullington,  near  the 
Roman  road  from  Dorchester  to  Aldchester.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  the  will  of 
King  Alfred  as  being  his  property,  and  at  the  Conquest  was  owned  by  the  great 
Saxon  noble,  Wigod  of  Wallingford,  from  whom  it  passed  with  his  daughter  in 
marriage  to  the  Norman  Robert  D'Oyly,  the  founder  of  the  castles  of  Wallingford 
and  Oxford.  In  1230  it  was  granted  to  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  who  built  here 
a  huge  palace,  of  which  the  moat  and  earthworks  can  be  traced.  It  afterwards 
belonged  to  the  barons  of  St.  Walery.  The  last  piece  of  masonry  was  removed 
in  the  present  century. 

At  BRACKLEY  Leland  mentions  the  vestiges  of  a  castle,  near  a  rivulet,  S.W. 
of  the  town. 


OXFORDSHIRE  167 

CHIPPING  XORTOX,  20  miles  X.W.  of  Oxford,  in  the  Hundred  of  Chadlinjj- 
ton.  Here,  on  the  X.  of  the  churchyard,  are  extensive  earthworks,  or  j^reen 
mounds,  known  as  the  Castle  Banks,  which  mark  the  site  of  a  fortress  of  the 
FitzAlans  of  Ciuii,  who  built  it  here  immediately  after  the  Conquest,  and  in 
whose  family  it  remained  until  Edmund,  Earl  of  Arundel,  was  beheaded  bv 
Mortimer  and  Queen  Isabella  in  1326  at  Hereford  for  his  attachment  to 
Edward  1!.,  when  this  castle  was  seized  by  Koj^er  Mortimer.  After  his  well- 
deserved  end  it  was  restored  to  the  Arundels,  but  soon  passed  in  marriage  to  Sir 
Richard  Serjeaw,  after  whom  it  came,  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  to  the  De 
Veres,  Earls  of  Oxford,  but  on  the  attainder  of  Earl  John  the  property  fell  to  the 
Crown,  and  was  j^iven  by  Edward  I\'.to  his  brother  Richard,  iJuke  of  Oloucester. 
In  modern  times  it  beioiii^ecl  to  the  Rodneys,  and  afterwards  to  the  family  of  the 
Comptons. 

This  castle  must  have  occupied  a  larye  space  of  f^round,  and  the  raised  mound 
on  which  stood  the  keep  is  still  to  be  seen;  but  no  vestiges  of  it  or  masonrv 
appear  above  ground,  aitiiougli  tlic  foundations  have  been  traced.  The  water 
which  once  filled  the  ditches  now  escapes  by  numerous  channels. 

Xo  historical  events  are  recorded  of  this  castle,  which  is  said  to  Iiave  been 
destroyed  by  Stephen  in  1145. 

At  CHIPPIXG  WARDOX  a  small  castle  is  said  to  have  stood  S.E.  of  the 
village,  between  an  ancient  burial-place  and  "  the  Hiack  Grounds." 

At  CULWORTH  some  eartliworks  remain  X.  of  iJic  churchyard  on  Herry- 
close  Hill,  measuring  43  by  36  yards. 

At  EVEXLY  are  some  remains  of  a  castellated  work,  probably  Xorman. 

GROVE  MILL,  between  Bodicot  and  Bloxham,  has  some  traces  of  a 
work. 

KIXG'S  SUTTON.     At  this  place,  yl  miles  S.E.  of  Banbury,  are  the  remains 

of  an  ancient  double  embankment. 

MIDDLETOX  STOXEV,  3  miles  from  Bicester,  in  Ploughey  Hundred,  was, 
after  the  Conquest,  the  property  of  the  Barons  de  Caniville,  and  Ricliard  de 
Camville  is  supposed  to  have  built  (temp.  Stephen)  on  the  site  of  a  Saxon  work,  a 
castle  which  he  held  against  the  Empress  Maud. 

There  are  some  interesting  traces  of  it  near  the  E.  end  of  the  church.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  dismantled  by  Ilenrv  11.,  but  it  remained  many  years  after 
most  of  the  Stephanie  castles  were  demolished  :  little,  however,  remained  in 
Leiand's  time.     The  manor  was  part  of  the  lands  of  the   Longespees,  Earls  of 


i68  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Salisbury,  and  on   failure  of  the  male  line  it  went  to  Henry  de  Lacy,  Earl  of 
Lincoln,  on  his  marriaj^e  with  Margaret,  the  only  daughter. 

At  MIXBURY,  in  the  same  Hundred,  on  the  X.  of  the  churchyard,  are  the 
very  conspicuous  remains  of  a  square  fortification  which  goes  by  the  name  of 
Beaumont.  The  lands  were  held  of  the  king  at  Domesday  by  Roger  D'lvry.  In 
the  reign  of  Richard  I.  Thomas  de  St.  Walery  bestowed  the  lands  on  the  Abbey 
of  Osney. 

At  SALGRAVE  are  some  earthworks,  \V.  of  the  churchyard,  measuring  34 
yards  by  34,  exclusive  of  the  ditch. 

SWERFORD,  7  miles  S.W.  from  Banbury,  has  the  stone  foundations  and 
earthworks  of  a  small  castle  still  remaining  on  the  N.  side  of  the  church,  apparently 
of  Norman  construction  ;  the  foundations  measure  40  yards  by  36,  and  the 
embankment  they  stand  on  is  18  feet  high.  Kennett  informs  us  that  Swerford 
was  part  of  the  barony  of  Hokenorton,  and  was  assigned  to  Osney  Abbey  by 
Robert  D'Oylev.  In  1337  Edward  III.  granted  the  reversion  of  the  manor,  then 
held  by  Sir  John  de  Hanlo,  to  his  favourite  and  treasurer.  Sir  John  de  Molyns. 
In  1455  the  manor  belonged  to  Robert,  Lord  Hungerford,  till  1504,  when  it  went 
to  John,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  who  granted  it  to  a  lawyer.  Sir  \\'illiam  Xorris,  of 
Yalendon,  Knt. 

WATLINGTON,  9  miles  N.E.  of  Wallingford,  was  part  of  the  territory  owned 
by  Robert  D'Oyley  ;  it  was,  in  1231,  granted  by  Henry  III.  to  his  brother  Richard, 
and  was  given  by  Edward  II.  in  his  first  year  to  Gaveston,  in  fee.  Edward  III. 
granted  the  lands  to  Nicholas  de  la  Beche,  who  obtained  a  licence  in  1338.  His 
castle  stood  S.E  of  the  church,  where  its  moat  can  still  be  traced  on  somewhat 
elevated  ground.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  the  manor  was  parcelled  out  to 
Edmund  Symeon  and  other  people. 


WlMl.^UK 


Berhsbire 


A L D W O  R T  H  (uou-cxisla,/) 

ALinVORTH  is  a  villas^c  lyiiii;  SAV.  (<t  Strcatlcy-on-'riiaines.  Near  it 
was  a  castle  of  tlic  Dc  la  Bcchc  family,  situated  on  a  hill,  half  a  mile 
S.  of  the  church,  where  now  exists  a  house  still  called  Beche  Kami, 
ihduj^h  nothing  whatever  exists  of  the  old  building:  foundation  walls, 
however,  composed  of  thick  masses  of  Hint,  have  occasionally  been  unearthed  in 
the  yards  and  grounds  adjoining.  A  branch  of  the  old  British  Ikeiuld  way,  coming 
from  Goring  and  from  the  river  to  Streatley,  passed  by  this  site,  and  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  a  Roman  station  may  originally  have  been  here,  to  which  the 
Saxons  gave  a  name  referring  to  its  then  antit-juity.  In  the  church  are  four 
sculptures  of  great  si/.e,  of  armed  and  crossed-legged  figures,  supposed  to 
represent  members  of  the  de  la  Beche  family.  John  de  la  Beche  (9  Edward  11.) 
had  charters  for  various  lordships  in  Berks  and  Suffolk  ;  and  Sir  Nicholas  de 
la  Beche  was  governor  of  IMessy  in  Essex  (temp.  Edward  ill.),  and  was,  in 
9  Edward  111.,  governor  of  the  Tower  of  London.  In  12  Edward  111.  he  had 
licences  to  crencllate  the  three  manor-houses  of  La  Beche,  Beaumeys,  and 
Watlyngton,  Oxon,  and  this  is  prnh.iblv  the  dale  of  the  erection  of  these 
strongholds,  whicii  have  all  now  disappeared,  as  has  the  name  of  the  family. 
In  1339,  King  Edward,  coming  bai  k  unexiiectedly  from  Flanders,  in  a  very  b.ul 
VOL.   I.  V 


lyo  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

humour  on  account  of  not  having  received  supplies  to  enable  him  to  prosecute 
the  siege  of  Tournay,  and  finding  no  one  in  the  Tower  but  his  own  children,  sent 
Sir  Nicholas  to  prison  as  a  punishment  for  his  absence,  and  the  mayor  and  others 
with  him  for  their  neglect  of  the  supplies  ;  but  he  was  soon  after  in  favour  again, 
and  was  rewarded  by  Edward  for  his  good  services  at  the  battle  of  Poictiers 
(1356).  He  died  in  the  twentieth  or  twenty-first  year  of  Edward  III.,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother  Philip. 

BEAUMYS,  OR  BEAMS  CASTLE  {uon-cxisicut) 

THIS  castle  lav  S.  of  Reading,  near  Siiinfield,  and  belonged  anciently  to  the 
family  of  de  la  Beche.  In  12  Edward  III.  Xicholaus  de  la  Beche  obtained 
a  licence  to  crenellate  his  manor  house  of  Beaumeys,  as  well  as  those  of  Aldworth 
((/.!'.),  and  Watlyngton  in  Oxfordshire,  and  this  year  (1338)  is  probably  the  date  of 
the  erection  of  the  castle,  of  which  there  are  at  the  present  day  no  existing  remains. 
Tlie  necessity  of  fortifying  the  house  was  shown  by  the  commission  of  an 
outrageous  assault  there  in  1332,  of  which  the  facts  are  given  in  Lyson's  "Magna 
Britannia."  Sir  Nicholaus  de  la  Beche  was  owner  of  seventeen  manors  in 
Berks,  and  dying  left  this  manor  to  his  widow,  Margaret,  who  had  been 
previously  married  to  Ednumd  Bacon,  and  wli<\  after  the  death  of  Sir  Nicholaus, 
had  taken  as  her  third  husband  Sir  J.  Arderne.  He,  too,  had  died,  and  his  widow 
was  residing  in  this  her  own  house  of  Beaumys,  when  one  John  de  Dalton 
came  with  an  armed  force  and  attacked  the  place.  They  killed  Michael  de 
Poynings,  uncle  to  Lord  Poynings,  and  frightened  the  chaplain  to  death,  after 
which  they  robbed  the  place  of  all  the  goods  and  chattels  they  could  find,  the 
value  of  which  amounted  to  -^'looo,  and  carried  off  some  people  as  prisoners, 
among  whom  was  the  Lady  Margaret  de  la  Beche,  or  Aderne,  herself.  Indeed 
the  raid  must  have  had  for  its  motive  the  forcible  abduction  of  this  lady,  since  we 
liear  that  she  was  wedded  {cii  quatriauc  iioccs)  to  this  John  de  Dalton  and 
that  she  died  two  years  after.  This  is  quite  a  precedent  to  the  forcible 
marriage,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  of  the  Dowager  Lady  Lovat,  by  Simon 
Eraser  afterwards  Lord  Lovat  (beheaded  in  1746),  in  order  to  obtain  her  estates. 
There  is  in  the  parish  of  Swallowfield  a  small  elevation  of  the  ground,  and  an 
ancient  moat,  which  is  believed  to  represent  Beaumys  Castle. 

BRIGHT  W  ELL   {mn-cxislaU) 

THIS  castle  is  said  to  have  been  built  by  King  Stephen  on  the  heights  to  the 
W.  of  Wallingford  in  order  to  watch  and  check  that  fortress.  Lysons, 
however,  says  it  may  have  stodd  within  the  moat  where  is  now  the  manor  farm. 
This  manor  has  belonged  from  time  inmiemorial  to  the  See  of  Winchester. 
Little  is  known  about  the   place,  which  was  delivered  over  to  Prince   Henry, 


BERKSHIRE  171 

when  Duke  of  Normandy,  by  the  Wallinf^ford  treaty  with  Kinjj  Stephen,  and  was 
in  all  probability  abolished  by  liini  when  he  became  Henry  11. 


D  O  \  X  I  \  G  T  O  X    (mimr) 

DOXN'IXGTOX  CASTLE,  near  Xewbnry,  was  formerly  a  place  of  import- 
ance, conunandinj;  as  it  did  the  Lcjndon  road  to  Bath  and  the  \V.,  and  also 
the  road  between  Xewbnry  and  Oxford.  The  date  of  its  original  foundation  is 
uncertain,  but  from  an  MS.  in  the  Cottonian  Library,  a  castle  here  appears  to  have 
bclon}>ccl,  in  the  reign  of  Ldward  11.,  to  Walter  Atterbury,  son  of  Thomas  Atter- 
bury,  who  iiad  bought  it  from  that  King  for  twenty  shillings.  In  y  Richard  II. 
"  Hichard  Abberbury,  senior  "  had  a  licence  to  crenellate  "  quoddam  castrum  "  at 
Donyngton,  Berks;  and  the  Patent  Roll  adds:  "in  solo  sno  proprio  apud 
Donvngton  in  Com.  Berks  de  novo  consti'uere  ac  petra,"  which  shows  clearlv  this 
was  a  rebuilding  of  an  old  "  castrum"  in  the  year  1386,  the  existing  fabric  having 
been  bought  about  fifty  years  before  for  ;t  1°°  ^^  •^"''  money.  Sir  Richard  had 
been  one  of  the  king's  trustees  during  his  minority,  but  he  gave  offence  and  was 
banished  in  13XS,  and  from  him  the  castle  came  to  his  son  Richard,  who  is  said 
to  have  sold  the  castle,  ten  years  after  its  erection,  to  no  less  a  person  than 
Geoffrey  Chaucer,  the  parent  of  English  poetry.  Lysons,  however,  is  of  opinion 
that  tile  nioie  likelv  puicii.i^er  was  the  poet's  son  Thomas,  who  was  sheriff  of  the 
county  in  1399.  Hither,  at  all  events,  did  Chaucer  retire  in  139H,  soon  after  the 
publication  of  his  poems,  when  sixty-nine  years  of  age,  to  enjoy  quiet  and 
repose,  and  here  he  remained  more  than  two  years.  He  died  at  London  in  1400, 
in  a  house  which  adjoined  Westminster  Abbey.  The  real  stor>'  of  Chaucer's 
Oak  is  given  in  John  Aubrey's  "Lives  of  Eminent  Men"  (vol.  ii.  p.  284): 
"  Xeare  the  castle  was  an  oake  imder  which  Sir  Geoffry  was  wont  to  sit,  called 
Cliaucer'>  Oake,  which  was  cut  down  by  .  .  .  (temp.  Charles  I.)  ;  and  so  it  was 
that  .  .  .  was  called  into  the  Starre  Chamber  and  was  lined  for  it."  As  his 
poems  were  published  before  139S  he  ct)uld  not  have  written  them  beneath  the 
tree.  His  grandclaugiiter  .Alice  married,  as  her  third  huNband,  William  de  la 
I'ole,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  wlm  made  Donnington  his  residence  and  greatly  enlarged 
it.  Suffolk,  after  the  murder  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  wherein  he  was  said  to 
have  had  a  hand,  became  the  leading  man  in  the  kingdom,  whose  affairs  he  and 
the  Oueen  now  managed,  and  when  matters  went  ill  both  abroad  and  at  home, 
he  shared  the  unpopularity  of  Margaret,  and  became  odious  to  the  people,  so 
that  an  accusation  of  high  treason  was  preferred  against  him  by  the  Connnons  in 
1450.  To  save  iiim  Henry  \'l.  banished  him  for  live  years,  but  on  his  passage 
to  France  his  enemies  intercepted  lum  olf  Dover,  and  struck  off  his  head  on  tiie 
side  of  the  boat,  throwing  his  body  into  the  sea.  Since  he  h.id  never  been 
attainted,  Donningtoni  Castle  then  became  the  property  of  his  son  John, 
from  whom  it  descended  to  Ednnnid  de  la  IV)le.     He  was  married  to  Eliz;dieth 


172  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Plantagenet,  the  widowed  sister  of  Edward  IV.,  and  was  executed  by  Henry  VII. 
in  1303,  when  Donnington  reverted  to  the  Crown.  There  it  remained  till  1545, 
when  Henry  VIII.  was  authorised  by  Act  of  Parliament  to  erect  this  castle  and 
three  other  places  into  as  many  honours,  with  lands  attached,  and  conferred 
Donnington  on  Charles  Brandon,  Viscount  de  L'Isle,  created  Duke  of  Suffolk. 
In  Camden's  time  it  belonged  to  Charles,  Earl  of  Nottingham,  the  Lord  Admiral. 
Leland's  description  of  it  is  :  "A  small  but  very  neat  castle,  seated  on  the 
brow  of  a  woody  hill,  having  a  fine  prospect  and  windows  on  all  sides  very 
lightsome."  Edward  VI.  visited  it  in  September  1551,  staying  there  two  days, 
and  six  months  after  presented  it  with  its  manor  and  deer  park  to  his  sister 
Elizabeth,  for  her  lifetime.  She  lived  there  for  a  time,  and  visited  it  in  1568, 
and  in  1600  gave  the  place  to  Charles,  Earl  of  Notts,  as  above.  Baron  Howard 
of  Eflingham,  in  reward  for  his  great  services  against  the  Spanish  Armada  ;  his 
son  and  successor  alienated  it.  In  the  reign  of  James  I.  the  castle  belonged  to 
a  family  named  Packer,  whose  heiress  married  a  Dr.  Hartley,  and  by  his  family 
Donnington  was  owned  at  the  beginning  of  this  century. 

In  the  Civil  War,  when  the  place  was  the  property  of  Mr.  John  Packer,  it  was 
a  post  of  consequence,  and  was  held  by  a  garrison  for  the  King,  under  Captain 
John  Boys,  when  it  stood  three  sieges.  It  was  first  attacked  by  Lieutenant- 
General  Middleton  with  a  force  of  3000  horse  and  foot,  July  31,  1644  ;  he  sum- 
moned it  to  surrender,  and,  receiving  a  defiant  reply  from  Boys,  proceeded  to 
assault  it,  but  was  unsuccessful,  losing  one  colonel,  eight  captains,  one  sergeant- 
major,  and  many  rank  and  file.  Then,  on  September  29,  came  Colonel  Horton 
with  a  battering  train  of  artillery,  and  for  twelve  days  showered  shot  on  the  devoted 
fortress,  firing  altogether  about  1000  cannon-balls  from  guns  planted  at  the  foot 
of  a  hill  in  the  direction  of  Newbury,  by  which  three  of  the  corner  towers 
were  ruined  and  part  of  the  walls.  A  second  suuuiions  to  Boys  produced 
only  a  further  spirited  reply,  and  then  the  siege  was  carried  on  liy  the  Earl  of 
Manchester  for  two  or  three  more  days  with  little  effect  on  the  brave  garrison, 
who  kept  up  the  defence  of  the  strong  outworks,  with  which  the  castle  had 
been  skilfully  surrounded.  In  one  vigorous  sortie  they  killed  a  lieutenant-colonel 
and  the  engineer-in-chief,  with  many  soldiers,  and  after  nineteen  days,  on  the 
approach  of  a  Royalist  relieving  force,  the  Parliamentary  troops  raised  the  siege. 
Captain  Boys  was  justly  made  colonel,  and  knighted  for  his  services.  The  next 
month,  October  27,  took  place  the  second  battle  of  Newbury,  upon  the  ground 
between  that  town  and  Donnington  Castle,  from  which  place  the  King,  seeing  the 
great  superiority  of  the  enemy,  resolved  to  retreat  at  ten  o'clock  at  night.  He 
accordingly  marched  his  army  otT  to  Wallingford  and  Oxford,  leaving  at  the 
castle,  under  the  care  of  Sir  John  Boys,  his  wounded,  and  all  his  artillery,  ammu- 
nition, and  baggage  ;  such  was  his  confidence  in  the  earthworks  round  the 
castle.  Two  days  after  the  battle,  Manchester  again  demanded  the  delivery  of 
the  castle,  threatening   otherwise  not  to  leave  one  stone  upon  another  of  the 


BFRKSHIRE  173 

building,  hut  offering  good  terms  to  the  garrison  if  they  would  surrender  at 
once.  The  only  answer  lie  got  from  Sir  John  was  this  :  *'  Carr>-  away  the  castle 
walls  themselves,  if  you  can,  hut  with  God's  help  I  am  resolved  to  keep  the 
ground  they  stand  on  till  I  have  orders  from  the  King,  my  master,  to  quit  it, 
or  will  die  upon  the  spot. "  This  hrave  refusal  was  followed  by  another  un- 
successful assault,  and  by  an  attempt  to  poison  the  castle  well,  of  which  Boys 
was  warned  by  the  commander  of  the  investing  force.  After  this  the  garrison 
was  not  molested,  and  in  a  few  days  the  King  came  in  force  to  relieve  the  fortress. 
Charles  slept  in  the  castle,  and  next  day  (November  10)  took  away  his  artillery 
and  baggage  to  Oxford,  but  left  with  Boys  eighteen  lield  pieces  and  five  or  six 
large  guns  for  the  works,  while  a  reinforcement  of  140  men  was  sent  in  from 
Winchester.  Hitherto  the  castle  had  had  but  four  guns  and  a  garrison  of  200 
foot  and  twenty-five  horses  (Symonds'  MS.),  of  whom  many  must  have  perished 
under  the  heavy  fire  of  the  enemy. 

.After  this  second  relief  of  Donnington  the  Parliamentary  troops  seem  to 
have  removed  to  the  X.  >icle  of  Newbury,  and  fortified  themselves  there,  while 
Sir  John  Boys  added  to  his  defences  by  the  formation  of  an  outwork,  with 
ditches  and  palisading  200  paces  on  the  N. ;  he  also  made  reprisals  on  the  town 
of  Newbury  and  other  places  from  which  he  had  received  scant  help.  The 
Roundheads  then  sent  Colonel  Dalbier  to  finally  reduce  Donnington,  the  gallant 
defence  of  which  kept  alive  the  spirit  of  royalty  in  Berkshire.  He  brought  two 
regiments  of  horse  and  three  of  foot,  and  invested  the  place,  though  not  com- 
pletely, since  Boys  was  able  to  obtain  provisions  from  the  country  round.  At 
this  time  a  fresh  spirit  had  been  given  to  the  Parliamentary  forces  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  "  new-model  "  army,  and  the  appointment  of  Fairfax  and  Cromwell  to 
the  chief  commands.  In  April  the  enemy's  approaches  were  pushed  closer  to 
the  castle,  up  to  the  foot  of  Maypole  Hill,  in  spite  of  the  gallant  sorties  made  by 
Boys  upon  their  works,  and  a  mortar  battery  was  opened, "  which  fired  seventeen 
shells  at  the  oolde  weak  Rotten  howse  y'  w'"  this  dayes  worke  was  well  ney  all  shat- 
tered to  pieces."  Thus  the  castle  was  almost  all  destroyed  except  the  gatehouse ; 
the  barn  and  outhouses  were  burnt,  and  "  the  granadoes  made  such  work  that 
the  souldiers  within  knew  not  how  to  secure  themselves,  divers  leaping  over  their 
works  and  craving  quarter."  A  last  summons  was  now  sent  to  the  old  knight, 
who  was  told  about  the  other  successes  of  the  Parliamentary  forces,  and  a  parley 
followed,  when,  in  a  field  S.  of  the  castle,  still  called  Dalbicrs  Mead,  terms 
were  agreed  on,  by  which  the  garrison  was  allowed  to  march  out  with  all  the 
honours  of  war,  and  the  fortress  was  given  up.  Then,  except  at  Wallingford, 
the  King's  flag  was  seen  nowhere  in  Berkshire. 

•Alter  the  war  Mr.  Packer  pulled  down  the  ruinous  part  of  the  old  building 
and  erected  with  the  materials  the  house  which  stands  at  the  loot  of  the  hill. 
Grose  {17X3)  gives  an  accurate  plan  showing  not  only  the  dimensions  of  the 
castle  when  entire,  hut  also  the  earthworks  by  which  the  place  was  so  success- 


1^4  CASTLES    OF   ENGLAND 

fully  defended,  "  carefully  traced  out  (in  1768)  amongst  the  bushes  and  briars 
with  which  they  are  now  overgrown."  This  shows  the  main  building  to  have 
been  almost  a  square,  facing  E,  where  was  the  existing  gatehouse,  and  measuring 
from  E.  to  W.  120  feet,  while  the  E.  front  was  85  feet  long.  At  each  corner  was 
a  round  tower,  and  the  W.  front  was  in  the  form  of  a  semi-octagon.  The  well 
was  near  the  N.W.  tower.  The  entrance,  in  the  gatehouse,  is  through  a 
passage  40  feet  long,  with  a  portcullis  groove  at  the  castle  end ;  all  this,  with  the 
two  circular  flanking  towers,  is  standing,  the  S.  tower  having  a  staircase.  These 
towers  terminate  in  crenellated  turrets,  and  have  four  bold  horizontal  mouldings, 
ornamented  with  bosses,  marking  the  floors,  these  mouldings  being  contmued 
round  the  building.  The  outworks  occupy  almost  the  whole  summit,  and  are  of 
much  interest,  as  their  proved  strength  justified  the  bravado  of  the  governor. 
The  shape  of  the  fortress,  which  was  quite  independent  of  the  castle  in  its  midst, 
was  an  irregular  pentagon,  having  a  large  and  principal  bastion  fronting  the  S., 
and  another  redan  at  the  N.W.  point.  On  the  N.E.  was  a  half  bastion,  and 
between  it  and  the  gorge  of  the  S.  redan  was  a  "  double,"  the  whole  E.  front 
being  defended  by  a  second  bank,  and,  of  course,  in  front  of  the  ramparts  there 
was  a  ditch,  while  the  edges  of  the  hill  were  scarped  and  perhaps  palisaded. 
The  small  river  Lamborne  flows  beneath  the  castle. 

The  property  is  in  the  hands  of  the  trustees  of  W.  H.  H.  Hartley,  and  the 
old  gatehouse  is  tenanted. 

FARINGDON  {non-existent) 

THE  town  of  Faringdon  was  the  third  largest  in  Saxon  Wessex,  and  contained 
a  royal  palace,  in  which  Edward  the  Elder  died  in  a.d.  925.  Its  castle 
had  an  important  history,  having  been  built  about  the  year  1142  by  Philip, 
son  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  the  natural  son  of  Henry  I.  It  commanded 
the  junction  of  hve  roads,  as  well  as  the  passage  of  the  Thames  at  Radcot  Bridge. 
King  Stephen  laid  siege  to  it,  bringing  a  variety  of  military  engines  to  bear  upon 
the  walls,  and  took  it  after  four  days.  The  "  Gesta  Stephani "  account  says  that 
the  King  ordered  machines  of  wondrous  art  to  be  constructed  round  the  castle, 
by  which  arrows  and  stones  and  other  missiles  were  thrown  on  the  besieged  ; 
the  art  of  attack  being  much  the  same  as  was  practised  by  the  Romans  against 
walled  towns.  Then  some  of  the  chief  people  within  capitulated  unknown  to  the 
rest  of  the  garrison,  who  were  made  prisoners  ;  much  rich  spoil  was  taken,  and 
a  great  (.[uantity  of  arms.  Roger  Hoveden  says,  however,  that  Stephen  took  the 
castle  by  assault.  This  castle,  with  those  of  Reading  and  Brightwell,  was 
demolished  in  all  probability  by  Henry  II.,  and  a  priory  of  Carmelite  monks  was 
established  on  its  site,  which,  too,  has  disappeared. 

Faringdon  House  was  an  old  mansion  belonging  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  to 
the  Pye  family,  and  was  held  as  a  garrison  for  the  King,  who  came  there  soon 


BERKSHIRE  175 

after  the  second  battle  of  Newbury.  In  April  1645,  after  Crunuvell  had  succeeded 
in  obtaininj^  the  surrender  of  Blechin}>ton  House,  he  attempted,  by  sheer  audacity, 
to  obtain  Karingdon  also  ;  but  his  summons  being  refused,  and  not  having  the 
means  to  carry  out  what  he  threatened,  he  and  his  600  horse  retired.  The  ne.xl 
year  another  attempt  was  made  on  the  house,  in  which  Sir  Robert  Pye,  the  owner, 
led  the  attack.  One  of  this  family,  Henry  James  Pye,  was  Poet  Laureate  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


A 


N  EW  1 5  r  R  \'   (non-existent) 

LITTLK  W.  of  Wwbury  l^  the  village  of  Speen,  while  the  N.  of  the  town 
is  callrd  Siiineham,  thus  perpetuating  the  name  of  the  K'oman  station 
called  by  Antoninus  Ad  Spinas,  or  Spinam,  an  important  post,  wiiere  the  great 
Celtic  Icening  Street,  which  ran  from  the  E.  coast  of  Norfolk  direct  to  the  S. 
coasts  of  Dorset  and  the  West,  after  crossing  the  Thames  at  Goring,  passed  the 
Kennet,  giving  off  at  this  point  one  or  two  branch  roads.  The  lands  here  were 
given  by  the  Conqueror  to  Krnulph  de  Hesdin,  who  probably  founded  a  Norman 
castle  at  tliis  place,  which  his  descendant  defended  against  Stephen  in  the  civil 
war  of  his  reign.  Stephen  captured  the  place  after  a  vigorous  siege  of  several 
week-^,  and  it  mav  be  concluded  that  the  injury  then  sustained  by  the  fabric, 
together  with  the  policy  of  Henry  11.  of  dealing  destruction  to  the  barons' 
castles,  will  account  for  the  disappearance  of  Newbury.  Not  a  vestige  of  the 
fortress  now  remains  bv  which  its  position  may  be  traced,  but  tills  is  well 
established  to  have  been  at  a  spot  where  is  now  the  wharf  ol  the  Kennet  and 
Avon  Canal,  on  the  E.  of  the  bridge.  .\n  old  local  document,  quoted  in  the 
"Transactions"  of  the  Newbury  District  Field  Club  for  1878,  shows  that  "the 
Hospital,  Foregate,  and  Castle  of  Newberrie  "  belonged  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  in 
right  of  the  Crown,  upon  the  dissolution  of  the  hospital,  or  jireceptory,  of 
the  Knights  Hospitallers  under  statute  37  Henry  X'lll.  The  manor  (temp. 
Domesday  Survey)  was  in  the  parish  of  Grecnham  (where  is  now  the  wharf 
mentioned  above)  being  the  property  of  Henry  de  Ferrars,  and  it  had  a  chapel. 
In  the  reign  ol  IKnrv  II..  Maud,  Countess  of  Clare,  gave  it  to  the  Knights 
Hospitallers  of  St.  John,  and  they  had  the  adjoining  meadow  for  a  tilt  yard. 
In  the  year  1627  the  Corporation  of  Newbury,  under  licence  from  King 
Charles,  purchased  the  castle  estate  and  "  Hospital,"  described  as  "  a  capital 
messuage  called  'the  Castle'  and  a  meadow  adjoining,"  and  they  converted  a 
large  building,  called  "the  Hospital,"  into  a  workhouse.  Finally,  in  1723,  these 
subjects  became  the  property  of  the  River  Kennet  Navigation  Company,  who 
erected  on  it  the  canal  wharf,  from  which  it  is  safe  to  infer  tiiat  the  hospital  was 
the  preceptorv,  close  to  the  present  wharf  on  the  S.  side  of  the  river,  which  would 
thus  have  formed  the  N.  defence  of  the  castle,  and  supplied  water  to  the  moats. 
The  owner   of   this   castle   in    i  217  was  Thomas,  Count  de   Perche,  tlie  great 


176  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

grandson  of  its  founder  ;  he  was  commander  of  the  French  and  Flemish  troops 
brought  over  hy  the  Dauphin,  who  were  detached  under  him  for  the  taking  of 
Lincoln,  but  at  the  battle  there,  called  Lincoln  Fair,  de  Perche  was  killed,  and 
his  castle  and  manor  of  Newbury  were  either  seized  by  William  the  Marshal, 
Earl  of  Pembroke,  or,  as  Lysons  says,  purchased  by  him  from  de  Perche's  heir, 
the  Bishop  of  Chalons.  The  property  afterwards  passed  through  the  hands  of  the 
iMontforts,  Bigods,  Mortimers,  and  Mohuns,  and  then  in  the  female  line  to  the 
Montagues  and  Beauchamps,  when,  after  the  death  of  Warwick  the  Kingmaker, 
it  passed  to  the  Crown.  In  1480  one  of  the  quarters  of  Ramsay,  a  follower  of 
Jack  Cade  (King),  was  spiked  on  its  gate. 

READING   {non-cxisteiil) 

OF  Reading  Dr.  Stukeley  writes  :  "  Here  was  a  famous  old  castle,  but  long 
since  demolish'd,  perhaps  originally  Roman."  The  trench  which  the  Danes 
made  between  the  river  Kennet  and  the  Thames  in  871  is  not  far  off  the  sup- 
posed site  of  this  castle,  beyond  the  W.  end  of  the  town,  either  at  the  foot  of 
Castle  Street,  where  the  old  gaol  was,  or  on  the  higher  ground  behind  Coley  Hill, 
w'here,  in  Coates'  map  (given  by  Lysons)  are  shown  fields  marked  with  "  Old 
fortification."  The  Thames,  flowing  through  the  low  lands  from  the  N.W., 
receives  here  the  Kennet  coming  from  Newliury  ;  and  round  the  jiuiction  of  the 
rivers  must  always  have  existed  marsh  lands,  which  would  add  much  to  the 
strength  of  the  position  of  the  fortress  on  the  higher  ground.  Stephen,  perhaps, 
built  this  castle,  which  would  be  on  the  site  of  the  Danish  or  Saxon  fortification. 
He  held  it  at  the  time  of  the  treaty  of  Wallingford,  in  1153,  by  which  this  strong- 
hold, with  others  in  Berkshire,  was  to  be  given  up  to  Prince  Henry,  who,  on 
succeeding  to  the  throne,  demolished  it,  as  well  as  every  other  of  these 
Stephanie  castles  upon  which  he  could  lay  his  hands.  Xo  traces  of  it  remained 
in  Leland's  time. 

WALLINGFORD   {non-existent) 

AT  the  time  of  the  Xorman  invasion  a  powerful  Saxon  chief,  Wigod,  had  his 
fortified  dwelling  at  Wallingford,  to  which  he  invited  the  victorious  leader 
on  his  march  after  the  battle  of  Hastings.  This  was  good  policy  too,  for  he  was 
one  of  the  few  of  his  class  who  managed  to  retain  all  his  estates  in  his  hands, 
owing,  perhaps,  to  conciliatory  treatment  of  the  Conqueror,  to  whom,  at  such  a 
time,  a  friendly  house  must  have  been  welcome.  It  was  here  that  Archbishop 
Stigand  and  the  chief  barons  were  received  to  tender  their  submission  to  the 
Conqueror  before  he  marched  to  London,  and  here  he  caused  the  marriage  of 
one  of  his  body-guard  officers,  Robert  D'Oyly  (or  Oilgi),  with  one  of  Wigod's  two 
daughters  to  be  celebrated.     He  at  once  grasped  the  importance  of  this  position, 


BERKSHIRE  177 

which  commanded  tlie  passage  of  the  Thames  where  it  was  crossed  by  a  main 
road  lo  the  \V.,aiid  where  a  Cehic  fort  had  been  replaced  by  a  Roman  rectangular 
work,  one  side  ol  which  was  washed  liy  tlie  river.  Here,  the  next  year,  U'Oyly, 
by  his  direction,  reared  a  strong  Xorman  castle,  which  was  finished  in  1071,  when 
Oxford  Castle  also  was  built  by  him.  Maud,  the  only  daugliter  and  heiress  of 
Robert  D'Oyly,  brought  the  castle,  town,  and  honour  of  Wallingford,  in  marriage 
to  Mill)  Crispin,  and  then  to  a  second  husband,  Brian  Kit/.  Count,  who  took  the 
side  of  the  Empress  Maud,  and,  fortifying  his  castle,  declared  for  her  innnediately 
on  her  landing  in  England.  Hither  she  came  across  the  snow  on  escaping  from 
(3xford  Castle  ;  dressed  in  white,  she  walked  all  the  way  to  .Abingdon,  where  her 
attendants  procured  a  horse  to  bring  her  to  Wallingford.  Stephen  made  several 
attempts  to  take  this  castle  by  siege,  but  always  unsuccessfully.  He  accordingly 
built  a  fort,  a  nuih'oisiii,  directly  opposite,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  to  watch 
and  annoy  the  castle,  proceeding  himself  to  meet  Prince  Henry,  then  Duke  of 
Normandy,  who  had  landed  (1153)  at  Wareham  with  an  army  to  enforce  his 
mother's  claims.  Henry  came  to  Wallingford  to  raise  the  siege  which  was 
being  conducted  by  Stephen's  son  Eustace,  whereon  the  King  himself  followed, 
and  the  two  armies  faced  one  another,  only  a  distance  of  three  furlongs 
separating  them.  A  battle  was  imminent,  but  pacific  counsels  prevailed,  and  a 
peace  was  concluded  before  the  walls  of  Wallingford,  by  which  Stephen  was  to 
retain  the  crown  during  his  lifetime,  and  to  be  succeeded  by  Henry.  At  this  siege 
died  Simon  de  St.  Liz,  Earl  of  Northampton  and  Huntingdon  (str  these  castles), 
who  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  Stephen.  Brian  Fitz  Count  went  to  the  Crusades, 
placing  his  wife  in  a  Norman  convent,  and  gave  up  his  possessions  to  the  Crown. 
The  castle  was  then  used  as  a  State  prison,  the  first  person  imprisoned  in  it  being 
Aldred,  Abbot  of  .Abingdon.  In  1218  Kanulph  de  Hlundeville,  Earl  of  Chester, 
held  it  and  built  the  hall,  and  from  him  it  went  to  the  King's  brother,  Richard, 
King  of  the  Romans  and  Earl  oi  Cornwall,  who  dispensed  great  hospitality,  and 
expended  large  sums  on  the  fabric.  He  was  followed  by  his  son,  Edmund, 
who  built  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas  in  the  castle.  It  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  barons  during  the  war  with  lleiny  111.  and  was  occupied  for  some 
tunc  by  Simon  de  Monllmt  and  his  countess  ;  then,  after  Henry 'sdefeat  at  Lewes, 
the  two  princes,  Edward  and  his  cousin  Henry,  were  confined  as  hostages  at 
Wallnigford,  but  were  so  carelessly  guarded  that  their  friends,  Warren  de  Hasing- 
burne  and  Robert  Waleran,  with  300  horse,  made  an  attempt  to  release  them. 
Making  a  rapid  march,  they  surprised  the  garrison  at  dawn  by  a  sudden 
attack,  and  gained  the  outer  works,  but  were  then  obstinately  resisted,  and  to  a 
demand  for  the  release  of  the  Rrince  Edward,  were  told  that  he  would  be  dis- 
patched to  them  on  a  mangonel,*  whereon  his  friends  retired.  Prince  Edward 
being  afterwards  sent  to  Hereford.  elTected  his  escape  thence  (stv  Hkkkkokd). 

•  .\  inilit:ir)-  engine  for  throwinK  large  stones,  and  even  horses  and  men. 
VOL.   I.  / 


178  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Afler  Evesham  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  recovered  his  castle,  and  at  his  death  in 
1272  his  son  and  successor  was  married  there  to  the  sister  of  Gilbert  de  Clare, 
Earl  of  Gloucester,  with  great  rejoicings.  In  1276  Edward  1.  paid  a  visit  to 
this  scene  of  his  imprisonment.  In  1300  Edmund,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  dying 
.<./-.,  the  castle  and  honour  of  W'allingford  reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  were 
bestowed,  in  1308,  bv  Edward  11.  on  his  Gascon  favourite.  Piers  Gaveston,  who 
gave  a  memorable  tournament  here,  at  which  he  fatally  offended  some  of  the 
great  nobles,  his  guests,  so  that  they  never  forgave  the  insults,  and  four  years  after, 
having  got  him  into  their  power,  made  an  end  of  him  at  Warwick:  the  King  then 
placed  tiie  Despcncers  here,  but  in  1317  settled  Wallingford  upon  Queen  Isabella. 
During  the  civil  wai"  between  Edward  and  his  barons,  Mortimer  surprised  and 
took  the  castle,  but  it  was  recovered  fiom  iiini,  and,  in  1323,  the  Lords  Berkeley 
and  Audley  were  imprisoned  in  it.  An  luisuccessful  attempt  was  made  to 
release  them  by  Sir  James  Goldington,  who  entered  the  fortress  by  a  water-gate 
from  the  Thames.  Then  the  place  once  more  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rebel 
nobles,  and  Sir  Roger  Amory  was  sent  to  besiege  it,  when  it  underwent  an  attack 
lasting  thirty-five  days. 

Queen  Isabella  returned  to  England  with  Mortimer  and  her  ft)reign  troops 
in  September  1326,  and  having  imprisoned  her  husband,  gave  this  castle  to  her 
paramour,  and  kept  a  regal  Christmas  there  with  him.  Edward  III.,  on  assuming 
the  kingly  power,  gave  Wallingford  to  his  brother,  John  of  Eltham,  creating  him 
Earl  of  Cornwall,  and  when  this  title  was  exchanged  for  that  of  Duke,  in  1334, 
an  Act  of  Parliament  provided  that  the  castle  and  honour  of  Wallingford  should 
become  an  appanage  of  this  duchy,  and  be  settled  on  the  Prince  of  Wales,  which 
Act  continued  in  force  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  The  Black  Prince  held  it, 
and  his  widow  Joan,  "the  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,"  died  here  in  1385,  after  nine  years 
of  widowhood,  and  was  buried  in  the  chapel.  Her  son,  Richard  II.,  on  departing 
lor  Ireland  in  \y)i),  shortly  before  his  deposition,  sent  his  child-queen,  Isabella  of 
Valois,  from  Windsor  to  Wallingford  for  safety,  as  being  the  stronger  of  the  two 
fortresses,  by  which  we  may  judge  of  the  importance  of  this  stronghold.  The 
tender  parting  of  Richard  from  the  little  Isabella  at  the  old  Deanery  at  Windsor 
is  touchingly  described  by  Froissart  (sec  Wixdsok).  Very  soon  after,  the  King 
was  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  Bolingbroke,  and  Isabella,  raising  what  forces 
she  could,  tried  to  rescue  her  husband  ;  in  the  face,  however,  of  the  popular 
movement  against  him  her  efforts  were  of  no  avail,  and  she  herself  was 
taken  and  kept  a  close  prisoner.  Henry  IV.  appointed  as  custodian  of  this  castle 
Thomas,  sou  of  Geoffry  Chaucer,  the  poet  [see  Donnington,  Berks),  who  was 
high  sheriff  of  Oxon  and  Berks  ;  he  represented  Wallingford  town  in  four 
Parliaments,  and  in  1414  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Henry  V. 
settled  the  lands  and  castle  on  his  Queen,  Katherine  of  Valois,  and  it  was  ordained 
that  the  education  of  his  son  Henry  should  be  conducted  at  \\'aIlingford  and 
Hertford   in   the    summer,    and    at    Windsor    and    Berkhamstead    in     winter. 


BF.HKSIIIRI'.  179 

William  de  la  Pole,  Duke  of  SuHolk,  was  altcrwards  custodian,  and  at  his  death 
his  widow,  Anne,  dauj^hter  of  the  above  Thomas  Chaucer,  remained  chatelaine 
by  judiciously  changinji  sides  several  times  diirinj^  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  She 
entertained  here  after  Tewkesbury  the  poor  Queen  Marj^aret,  a  prisoner — the 
forlorn  widow  and  mother — who  was  allowed  for  sustenance  live  marks  a 
week,  or  about  A'55  of  our  money.  The  son  of  the  Duchess  .Anne,  John  de  la 
Pole,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  who  married  the  sister  of  Edward  1\'.,  succeeded  her,  and 
was  kept  in  favour  hv  IkurvXll.  His  eldest  son,  John,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  had 
been  declared  by  Richard  111.  heir  to  the  throne,  and  received  many  manors  in 
lierks  from  him,  iij^htinj^  for  him  at  Hosworth  Kield,  and  beinj;  pardoned  by 
Henry.  He,  however,  tof^ether  with  Krancis  Viscount  Lovel,  who  had  ob- 
tained the  jjovernorsliip  of  Walliiifjford,  supported  the  insurrection  of  Lambert 
Sinuiel  at  the  instij^ation  of  his  aunt  Marj^aret,  Duchess  of  liurj^undy,  and  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Stoke  in  i^^J,  when  Lord  Lovel  disappeared.*  His 
brother,  Suffolk's  second  son,  Edmiuul,  then  succeeded  to  this  castle,  and 
alter  luni  I  k  nrv  N'orris,  j^randson  of  Sir  William  Norris,  who  had  a  command  at 
Stoke,  and  was  a  favourite  of  Henry  \lll..  became  custodian.  It  was  to  this 
knij^ht  that  Queen  Anne  Holeyn,  at  the  tournament  at  Greenwich  on  ^Lly  Day, 
1536,  dropped  her  handkerchief,  which  he,  taking  it  up,  pressed  to  his  lips  and 
returned  to  the  Queen  uiion  his  lance;  whereon  Henry,  whose  suspicions  had 
been  aroused  already  concerning  .\nne,  had  Xorris  arrested  for  high  treason  and 
put  him  to  death.  King  Henry  tried  to  make  him  inciiminate  the  Queen  to  save 
his  life,  but  this  he  refused  to  do,  and  died  on  Tower  Hill,  declaring  his  belief  in 
her  innocence.  After  iiiin  Sir  F.  KnoUys  was  constable  ;  but  by  this  time 
Walliiigfoid  Castle  had  become  much  dilapidated  :  royalty  had  taken  to  live  at 

*  Francis  Lord  Lovel  was  believed  by  some  to  have  escaped  to  the  north  of  luigland, 
and  there,  like  Lord  CiitTord,  to  have  lived  some  time  in  obscurity,  but  there  is  no 
historical  authority  for  the  tradition.  The  following  letter  is  given  in  Banks'  "  Dormant 
and  Lxtinct  Baronage,"  vol.  ii.  p.  321,  from  William  Cooper,  Clerk  of  the  Parliament, 
dated  August  9,  1735:  "Sir, —  I  met  t'other  day  with  a  memorandum  I  had  made  some 
years  ago,  pcrliaps  not  unwortliy  your  notice.  Vou  may  remember  that  Lord  Bacon,  in 
his  'History  of  Henry  V'lL,'  giving  an  account  of  ttie  battle  of  Stoke,  sais  of  the  Lord 
Lovfl,  who  was  among  the  rebels,  that  he  fled,  and  swam  over  the  Trent  on  horseback, 
but  could  not  recover  the  further  side  by  reason  of  the  steepnesse  of  the  bankc,  and  so 
was  drowned  in  the  river.  But  another  report  leaves  him  not  there,  but  that  he  lived 
long  after  in  a  cave  or  vault.  Apropos  to  this;  on  May  6,  1728.  the  present  Duke  of 
Rutland  related  in  my  hearing,  that  about  twenty  years  then  before,  viz.,  in  1708,  upon 
occasion  of  laying  a  new  chimney  at  Minster  Luvcl,  there  was  discovered  a  large  vault  or 
room  underground,  in  which  was  the  entire  skeleton  of  a  man,  as  having  been  sitting  at  a 
table,  which  was  before  him,  with  a  book,  paper,  pen,  &-c.  &c. ;  in  another  part  of  the 
room  lay  a  cap,  all  much  mouldered  and  decayed.  Which  the  family  and  others  judged 
to  Ijc  this  Lord  Lovel,  whose  exit  has  hitherto  been  so  uncertain."  Also  in  Cough's 
Additions  to  Camden's  "Magna  Britannia,"  cd.  1780.  vol.  ii.  p.  2S<).  it  is  added  that  the 
clothing  of  the  body  sccined  to  have  been  rich  ;  that  it  was  seated  in  a  chair,  with  a  table 
and  a  mass-book  before  it ;  and  also  that  up(<n  the  admission  of  the  .lir,  the  body  soon 
fill  ((>  dust  {se<  Castle  Cary,  Somerset,  and  Wardoir.  Wii  1*1 


i8o  CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 

Windsor,  ;incl  tliis  fortress  fell  into  decay.  In  1540  Leland  visiting  it  wrote  : 
"  The  castle  joins  to  the  N.  gate  of  the  town,  and  has  three  ditches,  large, 
deep  and  well  watered.  About  each  of  the  two  first  dikes  as  upon  the  crest  of 
the  ground  cast  out  of  them  i-unnctli  an  cnibattled  waulle  now  sore  yn  mine,  and 
for  the  most  part  defaced  ;  all  the  goodly  buildings  with  the  towres  and  dungeon 
(keep)  be  within  the  third  dike."  The  collegiate  chapel  was  still  among  these, 
founded  by  Edmund,  son  of  Richard,  King  of  the  Romans.  Camden,  writing  in 
1593,  says  :  "In  the  nuddle  stands  a  tower  raised  upon  a  very  high  mount,  in  the 
steep  ascent  whereof,  which  you  climb  by  stairs,  I  saw  a  well  of  an  exceeding 
great  depth  ; "  and  adds,  that  the  size  and  magnificence  of  the  place  were  still 
such  as  to  amaze  him,  a  lad  coming  there  fiom  O.xford.  By  the  Inquisition  of 
1555  the  collegiate  church  of  St.  Nicholas  with  its  tower  was  standing,  though 
only  a  shell,  and  the  keep  was  entire,  though  much  lead  had  been  stolen  from  it 
for  making  water-pipes  for  Windsor,  and  the  ashlar  facing  removed  for  building 
the  dwellings  of  the  poor  knights  in  the  lower  ward.  Sir  W.  KnoUys  was 
constable  early  in  the  seventeenth  century,  being  created  Viscount  Wallingford, 
and  then  Earl  of  Banbury,  and  he  held  the  appointment  till  1632  ;  then  the  Earl 
of  Berkshire  was  elected  high  steward  of  the  borough  of  Wallingford,  and  the 
title  of  constable  was  dropped. 

There  was  enough  left  of  the  foitress  to  put  it  into  an  el^cient  state  of  defence 
for  the  King  in  the  Parliamentary  War,  and  it  was  placed  under  the  charge  of 
Colonel  Blagge,  who  gallantly  kept  his  colours  flying  until  the  very  end  of  the 
war;  Wallingford,  after  sustaining  a  siege  of  65  days,  being  the  last  fortress  to 
yield,  with  the  exception  of  Pendennis  and  Raglan.  Then,  after  the  fall  of  Oxford, 
Fairfax's  regiment  was  sent  to  assist  Lilburn's  besieging  force,  and  a  new 
summons  being  sent  in,  Blagge  felt  unable  to  continue  the  defence,  and  a  treaty, 
which  was  most  honourable  to  him,  being  arranged,  Wallingford  was  surrendered 
on  July  27,  1646.  For  a  time  it  was  used  as  a  prison,  till  in  1652  the  order  came 
for  the  place  "  to  be  demolished  and  the  works  efifectually  slighted."  Accordingly, 
the  whole  castle  was  pulled  down  and  its  materials  sold  for  repavment  of  expenses, 
any  surplus  being  handed  over  for  the  benefit  of  any  poor  who  had  been  sufferers 
at  the  hands  of  the  garrison.  Eittle,  indeed,  remains  to  show  the  former 
magiutude  and  importance  of  this  fortress.  There  is  now  no  trace  whatever  of 
any  masonry  on  the  mounds  :  nothing,  indeed,  but  a  few  ruins  and  remains  of 
earthworks  to  give  an  idea  of  its  extent. 

WINDSOR  (chief) 

EDWARD  THE  CONFESSOR  frequented  a  Saxon  palace  at  Old  Windsor, 
by  the  side  of  the  Thames,  and  held  his  Court  there  at  times  ;  the  manor 
he  gave,  for  the  good  of  his  soul,  to  the  abbot  and  convent  of  W'estminster,  but 
it  was  exchanged  by  them  with  William  I.  for  Wokendom  and  other  lands  in 


lii:RKSHIRK 


i8i 


Kssex,  and  tlie  old  palace  was  used  for  iicaily  hall   a  century  after  the  Conquest 
whilst  the  new  castle  was  biiildinjj. 

The  site  of  it  is  not  verified,  but  it  probably  stood  to  the  W.  of  the  church, 
and  close  to  tiie  river,  where  until  of  late  years  existed  a  farmhouse  surrounded 


ST.  OEORCIKS  CHAPEI. 


by  a  moat  that  was  fed  by  the  Thames.  The  Coiupieror,  searchinji  everywhere 
for  places  of  vantage  whereon  to  erect  stronj^  castles,  proceeded  to  build  one 
upon  the  brow  f)f  a  hill,  two  miles  X.W.  of  the  old  palace — a  striking  eminence 
which  Saxons  or  Danes  may  have  previously  chosen — where  at  all  events  there  is 
a  burh  mound.  Nothinjj,  however,  is  known  of  its  bej^inninjjs,  except  that  William 
was  there  in  1070,  and  that  the  castle  is  mentioned  in  the  Domesday  Survey  of 
lOiS^i.     It  was  sufficiently  strong  in   1005  for  the   Red  Kinj^  to  employ  it  as  the 


,82  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

prison  of  Robert  de  Mowbray,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  whom  he  had  brought 
south  from  Bamborough  ((/.;•.);  and  from  this  date  until  the  Commonwealth  it 
continued  to  be  used  as  a  State  prison. 

Henry  1.  having  completed  "many  fair  buildings,"  including  a  chapel,  in 
addition  to  what  he  found,  kept  his  Court  at  the  new  Windsor  Castle  for  the  f^rst 
time  at  Whitsuntide,  mo.  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  contest  for 
its  possession  during  the  wars  between  Stephen  and  the  Empress  Maud,  which 
lasted  for  nineteen  terrible  years  ;  but  upon  the  peace,  Windsor  was  esteemed  the 
second  fortress  in  the  kingdom,  and  was,  with  the  Tower  of  London,  committed 
to  the  custody  of  Richard  de  Lacy. 

Henry  II.,  on  his  return  from  Normandy,  held  his  Court  here  at  Easter,  1170, 
when  the  King  of  Scotland,  William  the  Lion,  with  his  brother  David,  came  to 
welcome  him  ;  he  resided  here  frequently  till  his  death  in  1189,  before  which  he 
caused  to  he  painted  "  in  a  chamber  at  Wyndesore"  the  representation  of  a  dying 
eagle  attacked  by  four  young  ones,  to  show  his  sense  of  the  conduct  of  his  four 
rebellious  sons. 

Prince  John  seized  on  Windsor,  with  Nottingham  and  other  fortresses,  during 
the  imprisonment  of  his  brother,  the  King,  in  Austria,  but  was  forced  to  give  it  up 
to  the  barons,  who  laid  siege  to  it  in  Richard's  name.  He  came  there  soon  after 
his  accession  to  the  throne,  and  frequented  the  castle  much  during  his  evil  reign. 
In  February  1210,  he  left  it  to  pursue  the  wife  and  son  of  William  de  Braose,  the 
powerful  lord  of  Bramber  {q.v.  Sussex)  and  many  other  castles,  against  whom 
he  had  a  claim  for  the  rent  of  lands  in  Ireland.  Some  accounts  give  as  the 
cause  of  the  King's  violence  a  defiant  reply  of  the  Countess  Maud,  his  wife  ; 
at  any  rate,  on  their  fleeing  to  Ireland,  he  pursued  them  thither  and  captured 
them.  The  wife  of  Braose,  with  her  son  and  his  wife,  daughter  of  the 
Earl  of  Clare,  and  their  two  sons,  with  Braose's  daughter  Margaret,  who  was 
married  to  one  of  the  Lacys,  were  then  sent  prisoners  to  Bristol,  and  thence 
to  Windsor.  Fifty  thousand  marks  (;£'33,333)  was  fixed  as  their  ransom,  to  raise 
which  William  de  Braose,  being  allowed  his  liberty,  fled  to  France,  and  John 
starved  the  whole  family  to  death,  as  some  say,  at  this  castle,  though  writers 
dilifer  as  to  the  number  of  persons  thus  murdered.  One  contemporary  chronicler 
states  (though  he  gives  Corfe  Castle  as  the  scene)  that  they  were  shut  up  in  a 
room,  with  a  sheaf  of  wheat  and  a  piece  of  raw  bacon  for  their  sole  sustenance  ; 
that  after  eleven  days  the  prison  was  opened,  and  they  were  found  dead  :  the 
mother  was  sitting  upright  between  her  son's  legs,  with  her  head  thrown  back  on 
his  breast,  he  being  in  a  sitting  posture,  with  his  face  turned  towards  the  ground. 
Maud  de  Braose,  in  her  hunger,  had  gnawed  the  cheek  of  her  son,  then  probably 
dead.  The  deed  excited  strong  public  feeling  against  the  King.  It  was  from  this 
castle  that  John,  on  June  15,  12 15,  attended  at  Runimede,  a  fine  level  meadow  on 
the  banks  of  the  Thames  between  Windsor  and  Staines,  though  the  local  tradition 
gives  a  little  island  opposite  to  this  place  as  the  scene  :  but  the  words  of  the 


'^Iiadbro, 


m 


•for  tie  fe, 

•Mntici 
•denied  (lie 


■  Eiifer, 


"70, 


•'nvliicliiie 
-'■'ofadiinf 


''"rtrss5,(|iifj„g 
''jrccdtogiveitiip 
■t^  '-^(K  son  after 
>  OS  evil  reign. 
J'^ficBnoseJe 
'■'ft  a'ainst  wtom 
:i-vunt<gireastlie 
>--  Jhud,  his  iiife; 
itier  and  aptured 
[,  daugtler  of  tlie 
"  ■  wlio  was 


MTMSom,  to  raise 
Fniiice,andJolin 
Je,  Ihough  writers 
iporarv  chronicler 
rere  shut  up  in  a 
•sole  sustenance; 
found  dead:  the 
Itfiroirnbackon 
arithe^'ronnd, 

n,ti 
llvrasfroi 


en 

e  local  tradilw 
f  R-ords  of  tilt 


r 


BERKSHIRE 


183 


charter  arc  "  in  pralo."  The 
conference  occupied  nine  days, 
and  it  is  likely  tliat  John  at- 
tended each  day,  retiirnin}^  to 
his  castle  (where  the  barons 
would  not  go)  till  all  was 
settled.  In  a  few  weeks  this 
monstrous  King  broke  his  faith, 
and  supported  by  a  strong 
force,  set  at  nought  the  barons 
who  could  not  combine  against 
him.  He  took  Rochester  Castle, 
and  then  ravaged  the  North 
with  lire  and  sword.  In  des- 
pair, the  barons  sought  aid  of 
Louis,  King  of  France,  and 
John,  hearing  of  the  intended 
invasion  at  Windsor,  left  for 
Guildford  Castle.  He  never 
set  foot  in  Windsor  again. 

The  Dauphin  himself,  land- 
ing May  30,  at  Sandwicli,  be- 
sieged Dover,  and  the  barons 
attacked  Windsor,  these  being 
the  only  well-garrisoned  places 
on  tile  King's  side.  The  barons 
met  with  a  vigorous  resistance 
from  Faick  de  Hrent,  John's 
custodian  (stv  Hkdkoi^u)  ;  but 
made  little  way,  while  the  king 
was  laying  waste  their  estates. 
At  one  time  he  came  near 
Windsor,  and  tiu'  barons, 
raising  the  siege,  went  alter 
him.  Happily  he  died  that 
autumn.  Henry  111.,  his  son, 
was  a  great  builder,  and  a  man 
of  taste  and  relinement,  under 
whom  great  progress  was  made 
in  art.  The  Liberate  Rolls  of 
this  reign  detail  much  work 
of    construction,    which    must 


ci;rfe\v  tower 


j84  castles  of   ENGLAND 

have  entailed  a  very  large  outlay.  In  his  reign  were  built  the  Bell,  the  Clewer 
(with  its  prisons  underneath),  the  Berners',  and  the  Almoners'  Towers  on  the  N. 
side  and  what  were  afterwards  called  tlie  Garter  and  the  Salisbury,  or 
Chancellor's,  Towers  on  the  S.W. ;  he  also  completed  the  ditch  on  the  W'.,  by  the 
removal  of  houses,  and  added  a  barbican.  The  King's  Hall  was  in  the  Clewer 
Tower,  now  the  library  of  the  dean  and  chapter.  The  royal  kitchen  was  beyond, 
and  further  on  the  N.  wall  were  the  royal  apartments.  At  Windsor  in  the  upper 
bailey  he  built  large  chambers  for  himself  and  liis  queen,  60  feet  and  40  feet  long 
respectively,  and  a  chapel  with  a  wooden  roof,  70  feet  by  28  ;  he  caused  painted 
windows  and  ordinary  glazed  ones  to  be  inserted,  and  added  to  the  comfort  of 
the  residence  by  wainscotting  the  walls.  In  1263,  in  the  beginning  of  hostilities 
witii  the  barons,  Prince  Edward,  occupying  Windsor  witii  a  garrison  of  foreign 
soldiers,  fortified  it,  and  placed  his  wife  Eleanor  there  for  safety,  the  King  joining 
him  at  Christmas. 

As  Edward  I.,  he  and  his  Queen  frequently  dwelt  here,  and  in  1278  held  a 
grand  tournament  in  tlie  park,  where  thirty-eight  knights  competed.  Edward's 
three  elder  children  were  born  in  the  castle.  At  this  time  there  were  vineyards 
belonging  to  the  castle,  one  being  in  the  ditch,  and  the  cost  of  their  cultivation 
and  of  the  gathering  of  the  grapes  is  recorded  as  an  annual  charge.  Edward  II. 
kept  Christmas  here  in  1308,  and  in  succeeding  years,  with  great  solemnity,  and 
his  eldest  son,  afterwards  Edward  III.,  was  born  in  Windsor  Castle,  November  23, 
1312,  Queen  Isabella  being  then  only  eighteen. 

Edward  III.  had  a  strong  attachment  to  the  scene  of  his  birth,  and  made 
Windsor  his  chief  residence,  and  to  him  the  castle  owes  its  glory  and  grandeur.  His 
first  work  there  seems  to  have  been  the  Round  Tower,  or  keep,  which  he  reared 
on  the  lofty  mound  or  burh,  125  feet  in  diameter,  thrown  up  centuries  before  on 
this  hill-top,  with  its  protecting  ditch,  where  the  Conqueror  had  replaced  the 
Saxon  stockade  and  dwelling  of  timber  by  a  girdle  of  stone,  and  a  keep,  to  be 
superseded  by  a  stronger  tower  about  the  year  1272.  Edward's  shell,  or 
annular  tower,  was  connected  on  the  N.  with  the  old  gatehouse  admitting  to  the 
inner  ward,  and  on  the  S.  with  that  front,  and  so  formed  the  fourth  side  of  this 
upper  ward  ;  below  it  was  a  middle  ward,  which  no  longer  exists.  In  the  Round 
Tower  the  woodwork  of  that  period  still  remains,  supporting  the  existing  floors. 
Edward  was  in  his  thirty-sixth  year  (1348)  when  he  commenced  the  great  work 
of  remodelling  the  castle,  and  the  building  seems  to  have  occupied  twenty  years  ; 
his  clerk  of  the  works  was  a  young  monk  of  high  intellect,  who  was  known  as 
William  of  Wykeham,  and  who,  by  his  talents  and  the  King's  patronage,  rose 
to  be  Bishop  of  Winchester.  The  new  buildings  which  were  added  or  improved 
during  this  period  were  the  Great  Hall  of  St.  George,  the  lodgings  on  the  E.  and 
S.  sides  of  the  upper  ward,  the  chapel  of  St.  George,  the  dwellings  of  the  custodian 
and  the  canons  in  the  lower  ward,  with  the  whole  circumference  of  the  walls 
and  their  several  towers  and  gates. 


BERKSHIRE 


185 


111  1347  I^'i^'i''  Bruce,  Kinj^  of  Scothind,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  the 
battle  of  Neville's  Cross,  was  broiif^ht  to  Windsor,  and  confined  in  one  of  the 
towers  of  the  S.W.  wall  f)f  the  upper  ward,  where  he  remained  for  a  part  of  the 
long  eleven  years,  until  his  poor  kinj^dom  was  able  to  pay  the  enormous  ransom 
demanded  for  him  of  100,000  marks,  or  ;^'66,666,  equal  to  about  iJ,  millions  of 
our  present  currency. 

He  was  joined  in  his  captivity  in  1357  by  John,  Kinj^  of  France,  made  prisoner 
at  the  battle  of  Poictiers  the  precedinj^  year  by  Edward  the  Black  IVince,  who 


ROUND  TOWER 


was  confined  in  the  tower  called  King  John's.  Edward  allowed  the  captive 
Sovereign  much  freedom,  but  after  a  great  tournament  held  here  in  1358,  it  was 
found  that  he  had  abused  his  liberty  by  communicating  with  France,  whereon  he 
was  removed  to  Hertford  Castle,  and  theiicc  tiie  ne.\t  year  to  Somerton  Castle  in 
Lincolnshire,  and  ultimately  to  the  Tower.  In  1360  a  treaty  was  drawn  up  by 
which  a  ransom  equal  to  i  A  millions  of  our  money  was  to  be  paid  by  France 
for  his  freedom,  and  John  was  sent  back  to  F'rance  ;  but  in  1363  it  being  found 
lli.it  the  terms  of  his  release  could  not  be  fulfilled,  he  returned  to  England,  and 
was  sent  to  the  Savov,  where  he  soon  after  sickened  and  died. 

The  reason  for  Edwards  great  additions  to  the  castle  was  the  retiuiremeiit  of 

further  space  to  accommodate  the  throng  and   the  ceremonies  entailed  by  his 

institution  of  the  Order  oi  the  Garter.      In  the  year   1344,  inlhienced  by  some 

tradition  of  King  .\illiur  and   his  knights  in  connection  with  the  hill  of  Windsor, 

vol..   1.  2  .\ 


i86  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

he    had  ordained   certain  jousts  to  he   held    tliere  aniuuiUy  at  Whitsuntide,  to 
which  foreigners  were  invited,  and  a  great  temporary  building  was  set  up,  having 
in  it  a  round  table  200  feet  in  circumference,  to  promote  equality  among  his 
guests.      The    days    were    spent    in    tournament    and    feats    of   arms,   and  the 
nights  in  balls  and  dancing.     This  seems  to  have  led  to  the  institution  of  the 
great  Order,  whicii  Selden  says  "lias  precedence  of  antiquity  before  the  eldest 
rank  of  honour  of  that  kind  anywhere  established."     It  was  founded  upon  a  high 
principle  for  the  promotion  of  honour  and   nobleness,   its  patrons,  besides  the 
Trinity  and  the  B.V.M.,  being  St.  George  of  Cappadocia,  champion  and  martyr, 
and  St.   Edward   the  Confessor,  the   number   of  its   members   being    limited    to 
twenty-si.x   knights,  and   Papal  sanction   Iteing  obtained   for  the  scheme.     The 
commonly  received  origin  of  the  motto  and  emblem  may  be  wholly  or  in  part 
apocryphal,  and  is  certainlv  not  in  keeping   with  the   solemnitv   of  the   subject. 
Polydore  Vergil  was  the  hrst  to  give  the  common  story  (temp.  Henry  VII.),  and 
Froissart's  account  of  the  romance  after  the  siege  of  Wark  Castle  in  1342,  when 
the   Kinj4  fell   in   love  with  the  beautiful  Catherine,  Countess  of  Salisbury  {sec 
Wark,  Northumberland),  and  subdued  himself,  only  redounds  to  his  honour. 
Apart  from  the  story  of  the  dropped  garter,  Edward  himself  had  given  his  own 
garter  in  1346  for  the  sign  of  battle  at  Crecy,  and  the  object  may  have  been  taken 
as  a  symbol  of  union,  or  to  represent  the  round  table  instituted  by  him  two  years 
previously.     It  was  an  age  of  "impresses,  mottoes  and  devices,"  Edward  himself 
being  peculiarly  devoted  to  them.     The  formal  institution  of  the  Order  did  not 
take  place  till  after  the  return  from  Crecy,  early  in  1348,  when  we  first  read  of  the 
King's  robes  and  Orders  being  made,  containing  the  garters  and  motto.     As  for 
the  motto  itself,  which  is  made  to  refer  to  the  attachment  of  the  King  to  the 
countess.  Sir  Harris  Nicolas  points  out  that  the  proper  translation  of  the  words, 
"  Honi  soit  qui  mal  y  pense,"  is  not  "  Evil  be  to  him  who  evil  thinks,"  but  "  Be 
he  disgraced  who  thinks  evil  of  it  "—i.e.,  of  the  Order. 

The  husband  of  the  lovely  Countess  (who  was  daughter  of  Lord  Cranston), 
William,  Earl  Marshal,  was  killed  in  the  tournament  at  Windsor  in  1358,  and  she 
died  the  same  year.     The  earl  was  one  of  the  original  knights. 

At  the  same  date  Edward  founded  the  college  of  St.  George,  consisting  of 
twenty-six  canons  and  twenty-si.x  poor  knights,  who  all  required  accommodation 
within  the  walls  of  the  lower  ward.  The  original  chapel  of  St.  George  was  also 
erected  by  Edward  III.,  who  pulled  down  the  old  one  of  Henry  I.,  dedicated  to 
the  Confessor,  and  set  in  hand  a  more  stately  structure  to  receive  the  garter 
knights,  which  in  its  turn  gave  way  to  the  present  edifice  of  Edward  I\'.  The 
existing  Dean's  Cloister  is,  in  part,  a  survival  of  some  earlier  work  of  Edward  III. 
There  are  but  scanty  remains  now  of  all  this  fourteenth-century  building,  namely, 
the  mis-called  "  Norman  "  gateway  at  the  Round  Tower,  a  vaulted  basement  of  the 
Devil  Tower,  or  Edward  III.'s,  and  the  groined  length  of  vaulting  beneath  the  N. 
side  of  the  castle,  from  the  kitchen  to  King  John's  Tower.     Hollar's  drawing  has 


BERKSHIRE 


187 


preserved  tlie  appearance  of  St.  George's  Hall  as  left  by  Edward  III.,  and  it  was 
followed  by  \Vy;itvill<.-  in  his  restoration.     Queen  I'liilippa  died  here  in  August, 

1369. 

In  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  it  was  found  that  the  fabric  and  foundations  of 
St.  George's  Chapel,  though  only  forty  years  old,  were  in  a  bad  state,  and  repairs 
were  set  in  hand,  the  superintendent  being  one  Geoffry  Chaucer,  "the  father  of 
English  poetry. "  The  famous 
accusation  of  Henry  of  Bo- 
lingbroke  against  Thomas 
Mowbray,  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
of  high  treason,  took  place 
here  before  the  King  in  139^. 
This  led  to  the  lists  at 
Coventry,  and  to  action  on 
the  part  of  Richard  that  cost 
him  his  crown.  He  departed 
hence  in  1399  for  Ireland, 
and  in  the  old  Deanery  (re- 
built in  1500)  took  place  the 
affecting  parting  between 
Richard  and  lli^  little  child- 
wife  Isabella,  so  tenderly  told 
by  Froissart,  when  he  back- 
adieu  to  her,  lifting  hei-  up 
in  his  arms  and  kissing  her 
twelve     or     thirteen     times. 

"1  never  saw,"  says  the  chronicler,  "so  great  a  lord  make  so  much  of  or 
show  such  affection  to  a  lady,  as  did  King  Richard  to  his  Queen.  Great  pity  it 
is  that  they  separated,  for  they  never  saw  each  other  more." 

Henry  IV.  shut  up  in  Windsor  Castle  the  rightful  heir  to  his  crown,  the  infant 
Earl  of  March  (aged  seven),  and  his  brother,  who  derived  from  the  elder  brother 
of  John  of  Gaunt,  Henry's  father.  It  was  to  set  them  free  that  Lady  de  Spenser, 
sister  to  the  Duke  of  York,  having  care  of  thcni,  niiinaged,  by  means  of  false  keys, 
to  get  the  boys  out  of  the  castle,  and  part  of  the  way  to  Wales  ;  but  the  alarm  of 
their  escape  being  given  at  Windsor,  they  were  pursued  and  brought  back  ;  then 
York  who,  as  Earl  of  Rutland,  had  been  in  the  conspiracy  of  1399,  and  had 
betrayed  his  colleagues,  being  accused  by  his  sister  of  participation,  was  sent 
prisoner  to  Pevensey,  but  received  a  p.irdon  three  months  after,  while  the  smith 
who  made  the  keys  lost  his  hands  and  then  his  head.  That  ^ame  year  (1405) 
Windsor  Castle  received  another  royal  prisoner.  Robert  III.,  of  Scotland,  was 
sending  his  only  surviving  son.  Prince  James,  a  boy  of  eleven,  by  sea  to  h ranee 
for  his  education,  but  being  captured  on   the  way  by  a  privateer,  he  was  brought 


NORMAN  GATEW.W 


,88  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

to  Henry,  who  detained  him,  first  at  I'evensey,  and  tlien  here,  where  he  snffered 
a  long  imprisonment  in  the  Round  Tower,  at  tlie  foot  of  whicli,  in  the  ditch,  was 
a  garden  ov  f^ldi^diiiur  ;  and  here,  as  King  James  1.,  he  wooed  and  won  the  Lady 
Jane  Beaufort,  daughter  of  tlie  Earl  of  Somerset,  and  composed  some  of  his  love 
poems,  descriptive  of  the  place  and  his  lady  love  : 

"  And  therewitli  cast  I  down  mine  eye  again, 
Whereas  I  saw  walking  under  ttie  tower. 
Full  secreth'  coniyn  her  to  pleyne, 
The  fairest  and  the  frest  yonnge  flower 
That  ever  I  saw  (me  thought)  before  that  hour: 
For  which  sudden  abate  anon  astert 
The  blood  of  all  my  body  to  my  heart." 

Till-  King's  Quhair. 

Henry  V.  shamefully  continued  his  detention,  and  it  was  not  till  nineteen 
long  vears  had  passed,  in  which  the  hoy  of  eleven  had  grown  into  the  man  of 
thirty,  that  James  was  suffered  to  return  to  his  own  people  and  country. 

Henry  VI.  was  called  after  this  royal  palace,  in  which  he  was  born  in  142 1, 
and  here  he  was  buried.  Edward  IV.  finding  the  chapel  of  St.  George  in  a 
ruinous  state,  took  in  hand,  in  his  thirteenth  year,  to  rebuild  it  in  a  more  noble 
and  stately  style,  to  which  end  he  employed,  as  master  and  surveyor,  Richard 
Beauchamp,  Bishop  of  Sarum,  who  was  allowed  to  make  additional  room  by 
clearing  away  the  towers  on  that  side  called  the  Clewer,  the  Berners,  and  the 
Almoners,  and  thus  arose  the  magnificent  structure  we  see  at  the  present  day, 
although  it  was  not  completed  till  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  Edward  IV.  built  also, 
on  the  N.  of  the  chapel,  the  deans'  and  canons'  houses,  as  also  those  of  the  petty 
canons  raised  at  its  W.  end  in  the  Horseshoe  Cloisters,  or,  as  the  building  was 
then  called,  the  "  Fetterlock,"  which  was  one  of  Edward's  badges,  and  was  the 
name  given  to  the  keep  of  Fotheringhay,  of  similar  shape.  The  royal  tombhouse 
beyond  the  E.  end  of  St.  George's  Chapel  w^as  begun  by  Henry  VII.  as  a 
sepulchral  chapel  for  himself,  and  was  granted  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  who  erected 
there  a  black  marble  sarcophagus  for  his  own  burial  with  a  surrounding  and 
canopy  of  magnificent  bronze  metal  work.  This  building  was  formed  into  a 
splendid  memorial  chapel  by  Queen  Victoria  in  liononr  of  her  lamented  husband 
H.R.H.  I^rince  Albert,  the  Prince  Consort,  who  died  in  1861  at  this  castle. 

Henry  VIII.  built  the  great  gateway  that  bears  his  name,  being  the  public 
entrance  into  the  lower  ward.  It  is  decorated  with  his  devices  and  those  of 
his  queen,  Jane  Seymour,  the  only  wife  who  died  in  charity  with  him,  and  who 
is  buried  with  him. 

Few  Sovereigns  did  less  for  architecture  than  Elizabeth,  but  she  built,  in  1576, 
the  north  terrace,  and  a  gallery  on  that  side  from  the  royal  apartments  towards 
the  deanery,  now  used  as  a  library.  She  also  erected  an  octagon  banqueting 
liall  at  the  E.  end  of  this  terrace,  which  was  pulled  down  by  Charles  I.  when  he 


ilrttd 


'A  u 

dwn  the  Lady 
'mat 


I 


cwmtiy. 

ns  bora  in  1421, 
i  St.  George  in  a 
;  m  1  more  noble 

'■rww.  Richard 

.  room  by 

;  boncfN  and  the 

1!  the  present  day, 

draiilV.bniltaiso, 

D  those  oi  the  petiv 

15  tk  building  WIS 

'  \V3^  the 

......J«M 

Heniy-  VII,  as  a 
Vobev,  who  erected 
1  anoiinding  and 


«,  being  the  p* 
b-,c6  and  those  of 

,„-AhiDi,and* 
«tsheb*">'5Jj' 


.l.ffliente 


BERKSHIRE  189 

liiiilt  on  its  site  a  fjateway  with  a  drawbricljje  leading  to  the  Home  Park. 
James  I.  lived  lieie  and  employed  John  N'orden  as  topntjrapher  to  survey  the 
honour  of  Windsor. 

In  the  Civil  War,  in  1642,  Windsor  Castle  was  taken  possession  of  by  a 
I'arliamentai-y  force  under  Captain  P'ogg,  who  forcing;  open  the  doors  carried  off 
all  the  very  vaiualile  chapel  plate,  and  despoiled  Wolsey's  tomb  of  its  j^orj^eous 
metal  work,  all  which  was  sold,  and  the  plate  melted  down  and  coined  for  the 
use  of  the  Parliament.  They  then  also  carried  off  the  coat  of  mail  of  Kdward  IV., 
and  his  embroidered  surcoat  of  crimson  velvet  worked  over  with  i^old  and  pearls 
and  decorated  with  rubies,  which  had  hun;^  over  his  tomb  since  his  funeral  in 
1483.  Prince  Rupert  made  an  unsuccessful  attack  on  the  castle  in  that  year,  and 
durinj^  the  winter  Kssex  made  it  his  headquarters,  when  it  was  used  as  a  prison 
for  Royalists. 

To  Windsor  Kin<4  Chai  les  was  broui^hl  from  Hurst  Castle  by  Colonel 
Harrison,  with  a  guard  of  2000  men,  before  his  linal  passage  to  London,  and  here 
he  was  buried  on  that  snowy  winter  day,  the  governor  not  permitting  the  reading 
of  any  ritual. 

Cromwell  resided  hei  e  occaMonally  ;  but  it  was  after  the  Restoration  that 
the  worst  injury  was  done  to  Kdward  Ill.'s  castle,  by  Charles  1 1.,  who,  making 
Windsor  his  regular  summer  ipiartcrs,  sought  to  adapt  the  place  to  the  require- 
ments of  his  rowdy  court  and  its  vagaries.  With  the  baneful  help  of  Wren 
important  rehuildings  were  begun,  and  if  the  architectural  effect  of  these  was 
bald  and  monotonous,  obliterating  all  character,  :md  Italianising  the  fayade  with 
commonplace  ranges  of  ugly  windows  and  pediments,  the  interior  was  lavishly 
decorated  by  the  talents  of  Grinling  Gibbons,  and  by  the  paintings  of  Antonio 
Verrio,  a  Neapolitan,  who  began  to  paint  in  1676,  and  whose  favourite  subjects, 
with  sprawling  gods  and  goddesses,  were  "Judith  and  Holofernes,"  and  "  Leda 
and  the  Swan." 

The  outer  ditch  was  then  tilled  in,  and  terraces  were  formed  on  the  E.  and  S. 
fronts,  and  the  X.  terrace  was  enlarged.  The  Devil  Tower  was  appropriated  to 
the  maids  of  honour,  and  Charles  meant  to  have  faced  the  mound  of  the  Round 
Tower  with  red  brick. 

William  111.  also  designed  some  terrible  alterations  at  the  hands  of  Wren, 
which  happily  were  not  carried  out.  Queen  Anne  restricted  her  work  to  the  park, 
where  she  planted  the  Queen's  Walk,  and,  in  1710,  the  Long  Walk  was  laid  out. 

George  1 11.  destroyed  the  tracery  and  glass  in  the  great  E.  window  of  tlie  Chapel. 
The  Gen  Ik  man's  Magazine  says  (1805)  :  "In  1783,  by  way  of  an  improvement  by 
an  eminent  architect,  the  whole  of  the  beautiful  tracery  was  cut  away,  and  the  old 
glass  of  Kdward  l\'.  removed,  to  give  room  for  a  large  painting  of  the  Resurrection, 
a  (I. nib  In-  an  eminent  painter  (Henj.  West),  and  the  two  windows  of  the  side  aisles 
were  treated  in  the  same  way  ;  a  like  fate  was  intended  for  the  W.  window  also." 

George    IV.  announced  his  desire  to  remodel  the  castle,  and  adapt  it  to  the 


I90  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

requii-ements  of  a  modern  court,  and  the  woik  liaving  been  entrusted  to  the 
arcliitect  Jeffry  Wyatt,  afterwards  Sir  jeffry  Wyatville,  the  sum  of  ;£:30o,ooo  was 
{^ranted  for  tlie  purpose  ;  a  commission  was  appointed  to  control  generally  the 
work,  and  the  first  stone  was  laid  in  August  1824.  The  rebuilding  occupied  four 
years,  when  the  old  fortress  appeared  as  we  see  it  now.  The  incongruous 
buildings  of  Charles  II.  were  removed  with  their  decorations,  and  the  castle  was 
renewed  as  far  as  possible  on  the  old  lines,  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  ancient 
buildings.  One  or  two  new  towers  were  introduced,  especially  the  grand  entrance 
gateway  to  the  inner  ward,  called  George  IV.'s,  between  two  towers,  as  a  fitting 
termination  to  the  Long  Walk.  The  cost  of  the  work  at  that  time  amounted  to 
nearly  ^'700,000,  since  which  time  other  improvements  have  been  carried  out, 
paiticularly  along  the  wall  in  Thames  Street ;  where  the  ancient  towers,  the 
Chancellor's,  or  Salisbury,  the  Garter,  and  the  Curfew,  or  Caesar's,  have  been 
restored,  and  the  line  of  old  houses  which  clustered  upon  them  and  the  whole 
face  of  this  \\\  front,  like  limpets  on  a  rock,  totally  swept  away.  Wyatville  added 
39  feet  to  the  height  of  the  keep,  and  the  flag  turret  above  the  battlements. 

Of  the  ancient  masonry,  the  work  of  former  Sovereigns,  there  exist  the  follow- 
ing remains  : 

Of  Henry  II.,  some  foundations  and  part  of  the  lower  storey  from  the 
Devil's  Tower  eastward.  Of  Henry  11 1.,  the  outer  curtain  walls  of  the  lower  ward 
on  the  W.  front  with  their  three  towers  ;  the  wall  of  the  S.  ambulatory  in  the  Dean's 
Cloister  ;  the  door  behind  the  altar  of  St.  George's  Chapel,  behig  the  W.  door  of 
the  chapel  of  Henry  III.'s  palace  ;  remains  of  the  Domus  Regis  on  the  N.  of  the 
chapel,  in  one  of  the  canon's  houses,  and  the  King's  Hall,  now  the  library  of  the 
chapter.  The  work  of  Edward  III.  now  existing  has  already  been  given,  besides 
the  Wykeham  Tower.  That  of  Edward  IV.  is  in  St.  George's  Chapel,  the  arcade 
in  the  aisles  with  their  groined  vaults,  and  the  Horseshoe  Cloisters,  or  Fetterlock, 
the  woodwork  of  which  was  lately  renewed.  Of  Henry  VII.'s  work,  there  are  the 
groined  vault  of  the  the  nave  of  St.  George's  Chapel,  the  Tudor  buildings  on  the  X. 
side,  and  the  S.  and  E.  walls  of  the  tombhouse.  Of  Henry  VIII.,  the  groined 
vault  of  the  choir  in  St.  George's  and  the  entrance  gateway.  Of  Queen  Elizabeth's 
building  there  remain  the  gallery  and  facade  with  postern  at  the  W.  end  of  the  \. 
terrace. 

A  broad  flight  of  150  steps  was  built  up  through  the  interior  of  the  Round 
Tower,  which  has,  of  course,  destroyed  its  character  as  a  keep,  from  whose  grated 
windows  the  Earl  of  Surrey  gazed  on  the  fairGeraldine,  the  subject  of  his  sonnets. 
The  last  person  confined  here  was  the  Marcchal  de  Bellisle,  who  was  captured  in 
Hanover  in  the  reign  of  George  II. 

After  the  Restoration  Prince  Rupert  was  governor  of  the  castle,  and  fitted  his 
apartments  in  this  tower  with  armour  and  a  profusion  of  ornament  and  furniture 
which  is  warmly  descanted  on  by  Evelyn.  From  the  roof  of  this  tower  a 
surpassingly  fine  prospect  is  had,  embracing  twelve  counties. 


THE  1)1. I>  HAI.I.,  WINCHESTER 


IFJanipsbire 


BASING   HOUSE   {nou-cxisteul) 

OF  the  ancient  castle  of  Basinj^,  tlie  orij»inal  seat  of  the  St.  Johns, 
lords  of  Basinj^,  nothing  whatever  remains  except  some  founda- 
tions, nor  are  any  particulars  recorded  as  to  its  erection  or  liistory, 
the  whole  of  whatever  then  existed  being  in  all  probability  cleared 
away  when  Sir  William  Paulet,  created  Marquess  of  Winchester  by  Edward  VI., 
laid  the  foiuidations  of  his  magnificent  mansion,  which  was  of  such  huge 
proportions  that  his  successor  pulled  down  a  part  of  it.  It  is  round  this  later 
structure  that  is  gathered  the  interest  acquired  by  the  place  from  its  long  and 
brave  defence  and  final  capture  and  destruction  by  the  forces  under  Cromwell  in 
1645. 

The  lands  were  acquired  by  a  Xormaii,  .Adam  de  Port,  who  obtained  after  the 
Conquest  forty  manors,  and  lia\ing  niairicd  .Mabel,  tiie  heiress  of  another 
Norman  family  called  d'.Aureval,  their  son  William,  who  succeeded  as  second 
lord  of  liasing,  adopted  his  mother's  name  of  St.  John.  His  descendant,  Hugh 
St.  John,  lord  of  Basing  by  writ  I29(>,  left  a  son  Pxlmund,  who  in  1347 
(21  Kdward  III.)  died  .<./<.,  when  his  sister  Mabel  obtained  his  lands  and  brought 
them  in  marriage  to  Lucas  I'oynings,  whose  son  Sir  Thomas  and  grandson  Sir 


192  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Hii^'h  Poyniiigs  succeeded;  the  hitter  left  a  daughter  Constance  who  maiTied 
(temp.  Henry  VI.)  Sir  John  Paulet,  of  Xunney  Castle,  Somerset,  whose  family  thus 
acquired  Basing.  Tiie  great-grandson  of  Constance  Poynings  was  Sir  William 
Paulet,  who  was  raised  to  the  peerage  by  Henry  VIII.  as  Baron  St.  John  of 
Basing,  and  made  subsequently  Knight  of  the  Garter,  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  and,  in 
1531,  by  p:d\vard  V'l.,  Marquess  of  Winchester.  He  managed  to  maintain  the 
high  olttce  of  Lord  Treasurer  for  thirty  years,  through  four  successive  reigns,  by 
the  policy,  as  he  expressed  it,  of  "being  a  willow  and  not  an  oak;"  and  being 
enriched  both  by  the  spoils  of  the  church  and  by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter 
of  a  city  magnate,  he  built  the  princely  and  magnificent  seat  of  Basing  on  and 
about  the  site  of  its  ancient  castle.  He  here  entertained  Queen  Elizabeth,  during 
one  of  her  progresses,  with  such  splendour  that  he  quite  captivated  his  royal 
guest,  who  declared,  "  if  my  Lord  Treasurer  were  but  a  young  man,  I  could  find 
it  in  mv  heart  to  have  him  for  a  husband  before  any  man  in  England."  This 
first  Marquess  died  in  1572,  aged  ninety-seven,  having  lived  to  see  one  hundred 
and  three  of  his  own  immediate  descendants,  and  was  buried  in  Basing  Church. 
It  was  John,  the  fifth  marquess,  who  so  splendidly  defended  this  fortress  against 
the  Parliamentary  forces  for  more  than  three  years,  during  the  seventeenth  century, 
by  whom  the  name  of  Basing  House  has  been  immortalised.  At  an  early  date 
the  place  was  strongly  garrisoned  for  the  King,  who  held  also  Winchester,  and 
was  thus  enabled  to  command  the  traftic  passing  between  London  and  the  S.W. 
districts  of  the  country,  along  the  main  roads  to  Southampton,  Salisbury,  and 
Exeter,  whereby  great  annoyance  was  caused  both  to  London  and  the  country 
by  the  hindrance  of  trade  ;  accordingly  many  efforts  were  made  at  different 
times  to  reduce  this  dreaded  stronghold. 

On  his  side  the  Marquess  of  Winchester  set  to  work  to  strengthen  and 
provision  his  fortress,  which  was  indeed  a  fortified  camp,  with  an  area  of 
14!  acres,  and  on  July  31  one  hundred  musketeers  from  Oxford  under  Lieut. - 
Col.  Peake  were  received  into  the  castle.  An  attempt  was  made  soon  after  by 
Colonels  Norton  and  Harvey  to  surprise  the  place,  which  entirely  failed,  and  the 
Parliamentary  troops  were  beaten  off.  Then,  on  November  6,  a  formidable  body 
of  troops,  seven  thousand  strong,  mider  Sir  William  Waller,  came  before  it,  and 
for  nine  days  besieged  the  castle,  and  then  stormed  it  on  three  different  days,  but 
all  without  success,  and  with  much  loss  had  to  retire  to  their  centre  at  F'arnham. 
An  interval  of  more  than  six  months'  peace  seems  after  this  failure  to  have  been 
enjoyed  by  the  marquess  and  his  men,  but  in  June  4,  1644,  a  new  and  better 
organised  attempt  to  capture  the  place  was  commenced  by  a  large  force  under 
Colonel  Norton,  who  took  up  ground  in  the  park  and  opened  batteries  from 
advantageous  points  against  the  defences.  On  July  11  a  siunmons  to  surrender 
was  returned  with  contumely,  and  the  siege  went  on.  A  culverin  planted  by 
Basing  Church  on  July  30  injured  the  works,  and  on  August  10  a  tower  "of  the 
old  castle  "  (probably  one  of  the  mural  ones  along  the  moat)  was   shot  down  ; 


HAMPSHIRE 


193 


BASING 


another  culverin  was  got  into  position  on  the  17th,  and  a  "demy-cannon"  fired 
shot  and  grenades  (shell)  into  the  place,  by  which  the  best  iron  gun  in  the  castle 
was  broken,  and  a  breach  made  in  one  of  the  square  towers  ;  the  enemy  sending 
in  "crosse-bar  shot,  logs  bound  with  iron  hoops,  stones  and  grenades."  Mean- 
while the  defenders  were  very  active,  and  repaired  the  damages,  wiiile  sorties 
were  continually  made  on  the  enemy's  lines,  and  much  havoc  was  done  ;  the 
fences  and  iiedges  were  lined  with  Peake's  musketeers  who  greatly  distressed  tlie 
besiegers.  And  now  scarcity 
of  provisions  began  to  be 
seriously  felt  iiy  the  garrison, 
and  the  intended  famine  was 
imminent,  for  their  wheat  was 
spent  and  bread  had  to  he 
made  with  peas  and  oats. 
Then  came,  on  September  2, 
a  fresh  summons,  sternly  re- 
fused by  Lord  Winchester, 
whereon  a  violent  cannona- 
ding "of  six  score  of  shot" 
was  started  from  a  battery 
near  the  town,  which  de- 
stroyed   one     of     the     great 

brick  towers.  Relief  was,  however,  at  hand,  for  on  September  1 1  Colonel 
Gage,  with  a  force  of  one  thousand  horse,  each  trooper  carrying  a  sack  of 
wheat  or  other  stores,  by  taking  advantage  of  a  thick  fog,  managed  to  throw  in 
considerable  supplies  of  food  and  ammimition,  and  tiicn,  tailing  on  the  besieging 
lines,  drove  the  enemy  even  out  of  Basingstoke,  where  fresh  stores  were 
captured.  Constant  lighting  and  sorties  went  on  through  October,  and  by  the 
beginning  of  November  food  began  again  to  be  scarce;  but  on  the  14th,  the 
attacking  force,  wearied  with  a  twenty-four  weeks'  siege  and  much  sickness,  on 
learning  the  approach  of  a  relieving  column,  broke  up,  raised  the  siege,  and 
retired  to  Odiham  ;  next  night  CoU)nel  Gage  again  entered  the  fortress  with 
fresh  >upplKs,  Id  I'ukI  tlic  iM.ive  garrison  nigh  spent,  hungry  and  almost  naked, 
with  a  loss,  too,  oi  one  hundred  men  in  all. 

Nothing,  however,  seems  to  have  discouraged  Winchester,  and  new  efforts 
were  made  to  strengthen  the  defences  and  prepare  the  garrison  for  further 
endurance,  wliiie  the  character  of  being  impregnable,  which  the  fortress  had 
acquired,  attracted  to  U  a  motley  gathering  of  people,  wlu),  opposed  to  the 
Parliament,  knew  not  m  these  distracted  times  whither  to  go  for  shelter  and 
safety.  Thus,  there  were  next  year  gathered  within  the  walls,  priests,  artists, 
actors,  men  of  science  and  idlers,  with  their  womenkind,  and  ladies  of 
fashion,    who    appear    to    have    accepted    the    unbounded    hospitality    of     Lord 

VOL.    1.  2   li 


94 


CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 


Winchester,  together  with  the  great  risk  wliich  their  refuge  eventually  entailed. 
For  early  in  October  1645,  "the  face  of  God  now  shining  again  upon  Bristol,"  as 
Joshua  Sprigg,  M.A.,  writes,  or  in  other  words,  Bristol  having  fallen  to  Fairfax 
and  Cromwell  (September  10)  after  the  slaughter  of  about  1400  men,  the  latter, 
as  lieutenant-general,  was  at  once  dispatched  to  reduce  the  other  garrisons  of  the 
King  in  the  West,  which  were  hindering  the  traffic  and  trade  to  London  ;  and 
having  taken  Devizes  Castle  which  commanded  the  county  of  Wilts  (September  23), 
he  proceeded  to  storm  the  town  and  castle  of  Winchester,  which  surrendered 
to  him  on  October  5.  Cromwell  then,  without  delaying  a  day,  pressed  on, 
with  the  same  brigade  of  three  regiments  of  horse  and  three  of  foot,  to  the 
reduction  of  Basing  House,  which  for  over  three  years  had  defied  all  the  many 
attempts  made  to  take  it,  so  that  from  the  constant  defeats  sustained  by 
Parliamentary  officers,  the  Royalists  had  called  it  "  Basting  "  House.  It  had  also 
acquired  the  cheering  name  of  "  Loyalty,"  for  its  staunch  owner  had  written  with 
a  diamond,  as  it  was  said,  on  every  window  the  words  "  Aimez  Loyaute." 

Whilst  the  King  held  Donnington  and  Andover  in  its  neighbourhood,  with 
Abingdon,  Wallingford  and  Oxford  on  the  W.,  Basing  House  also  was  held  by  the 
"  malignants  "  as  a  safe  centre  from  which  to  communicate  with  the  surrounding 
counties,  and  enforce  the  King's  levy  of  ;4i^°  weekly  from  each  of  the 
neighbouring  hundreds.  The  fortress  was  garrisoned  for  five  hundred  men,  who 
with  their  wives,  children  and  goods  had  taken  refnge  within  its  walls.  And,  as 
the  marquess  was  a  Roman  Catholic  convert,  a  strong  church  party  likewise 
mustered  around  him. 

Basing  was  an  immensely  strong  place,  the  keep  standing  on  rising  ground, 
surrounded  by  a  wall  of  circular  trace,  made  of  brick  reveted  with  earth,  and 
with  a  very  deep  dry  ditch  in  front.  The  enceinte  was  of  irregular  shape, 
defended  by  a  high  brick  rampart  backed  with  earth,  having  several  mural  towers. 
In  front  of  this  was  an  outei"  moat  whose  mean  depth  was  36  feet,  and  a 
lofty  gatehouse  with  four  flanking  towers  gave  entrance  to  the  castle  on  its  X. 
side ;  outside  this,  on  the  right,  stood  a  large  double-courted  building,  and 
opposite,  across  the  road  was,  and  still  remains,  the  Grange.  The  earthwork 
revetment  of  the  walls  made  them  very  difficult  to  breach,  and  for  an  enemy  the 
ground  afforded  little  cover,  except  in  a  few  voung  plantations  in  the  park. 

Having  arrived  from  Winchester,  Cromwell,  with  Colonel  Dalbier,  recon- 
noitred the  place  and  at  once  proceeded  to  get  guns  into  position  ;  on  Friday, 
October  10.  he  poured  in  shot  from  the  S.E.,  while  Dalbier's  battery  on  the  S.  of 
the  church  of  Basing  played  on  the  new  buildings,  and  keeping  up  the  fire,  on 
Monday  night  practicable  breaches  were  reported  on  both  sides,  and  the  storming 
was  fixed  for  the  next  morning.  At  six  a.m.  October  14,  on  the  signal  of  four 
guns,  the  storming  parties  attacked  ;  Colonel  Dalbier  on  the  N.,  by  the  Grange, 
well  supported,  stormed  the  new  buildings,  and  gained  the  great  court  between 
the  new  house  and  the  old.    Here,  as  soon  as  they  had  entered,  the  garrison,  who 


HAMPSHIRE  195 

had  fled  into  the  old  castle,  exploded  a  mine  of  some  three  barrels  of  powder  in 
the  court,  but  without  much  effect.  "This  over,"  says  the  account,  "our  men 
slid  in  at  the  windows  and  compassed  the  old  house  round,  whither  their  men 
had  fled,  throwinj^  hand  {grenades  among  us ;  but  we  soon  made  our  passage  into 
the  house  among  them,  and  quieted  them.  The  whole  storm  from  beginning  to 
end  was  not  above  three-quarters  of  an  Iiour."  Thus,  by  a  well  directed  and 
irresistible  assault,  delivered  perhaps  unexpectedly  just  before  sunrise,  did  Basing 
fall.  The  victors  state  that  they  killed  some  hundred  of  the  inmates  (seventy- 
four  bodies  were  "within  sight")  with  only  trifling  loss  to  themselves.  They 
acted,  too,  with  savage  barbarity  :  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wiborn  and  Sergeant- 
Major  Cufande,  with  the  actor  "  Major  "  Robinson,  a  Drury  Lane  comedian,  were 
killed  in  cold  blood,  the  latter  being  shot  in  the  head  by  Major-General  Harrison, 
the  fanatic,  who  refused  him  quarter,  with  the  words  "  Cursed  be  he  who  doeth  the 
Lord's  work  negligently. "  The  poor  daughter  of  Dr.  Griffith  was  slain,  too,  by  the 
soldiers,  who  were  annoyed  by  her  defence  of  her  father  !  .Another  woman  had 
been  killed  bv  a  shell  early  in  the  siege,  the  "gentlewoman"  or  waiting-maid  of 
the  Marchioness  of  Winchester,  who  herself  escaped  from  Basing  only  six  days 
before  the  storming.  The  life  of  the  marquess  was  saved  by  Colonel  Hammond, 
a  prisoner  (one  story  is  that  he  was  taken  111  a  small  oven),  and  Sir  K.  I'eake  was 
also  iMihurt  ;  six  Catholic  priests  are  said  to  have  been  killed,  and  Dr.  Thomas 
Johnson,  the  celebrated  botanist,  received  wounds  of  which  he  afterwards  died. 

More  horrors  followed,  for,  from  neglect  of  extinguishing  a  fireball,  the 
building  took  fire  and  a  great  portion  of  it  was  consumed,  so  that  in  less  than 
twenty  hours  nothing  was  left  of  this  part  of  the  lordly  pile  but  \kux-  walls,  and 
a  number  of  people  perished  miserably  in  the  vaults  where  they  had  taken 
refuge ;  their  cries  for  release  and  quarter  arc  said  to  have  been  imheedcd.  So 
Cromwell,  writing  his  despatch  the  same  day  to  the  Speaker  Lenthal,  was  able  to 
say,  imctuously,  "  I  thank  (jod  I  can  give  you  a  good  account  of  Basing."  He 
describes  the  assault  thus :  "  Our  men  fell  on  with  great  resolution  and 
cheerfulness  ;  we  took  the  two  houses  without  any  considerable  loss  to  ourselves. 
Colonel  Pickering  stormed  the  new  house,  passed  through,  and  got  the  gate  of  the 
old  house,  whereupon  thev  sinnmoned  a  parley,  which  our  men  would  not  hear. 
In  the  meantime.  Colonel  Montague's  and  Sir  Hardress  Waller's  regiments 
assaulted  the  strongest  works,  where  the  enemy  kept  his  coiut  of  guard,  which 
with  great  resolution  they  recovered,  beating  the  enemy  from  a  whole  culverin, 
and  from  that  work  ;  which  having  done,  they  drew  their  ladders  after  them,  and 

got  over  another  work,  and  the  house  wall,  before  thev  could  enter We 

have  had  little  loss  ;  many  of  the  enemv  our  men  put  to  the  sword,  and  some 
ofticers  of  quality."  He  then  asks  that  the  place  may  be  "slighted,"  as  it  will 
take  eight  hundred  men  to  hold  il,  and  >-ince  it  is  "exceedingly  ruined"  already. 

Among  the  people  shut  up  here  duruig  \y.ai  of  the  siege  was  Hollar,  the 
celibiatc-d   inL;p:i\iM,    ulio,   liri\M\ir,   <•..  ipiil    liefore    the    storming,  and    Inigo 


,g6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Jones,  the  architect,  and  Dr.  Fuller,  the  author  of  the  Church  History,  who  wrote 
liere  part  of  his  book  on  the  "Worthies  of  England,"  somewhat  disturbed  by  the 

cannonading. 

From  fust  to  last,  it  was  calculated  that  quite  2000  of  the  Roundhead  troops 
fell  before  the  walls  of  Basing  House  during  those  three  and  a  half  years. 

The  plunder  was  immense,  amounting,  it  was  said,  to  _4'200,ooo.  Sprigg  gives 
Hugh  Peter's  relation  of  the  siege  to  the  House  of  Commons.  He  calls  the  "old 
house"  "a  nest  of  idolatry,  the  new  house  surpassing  that  in  beauty  and  statliness, 

and  either  of  them  fit  to  make  an  emperor's  court A  bed  in  one  room  cost 

Xi",oo,  popish  books  many,  with  copes,  and  such  utensils The  plunder  of 

the  soldiers  continued  till  Tuesday  nigiit.  One  soldier  had  120  pieces  in  gold  for 
his   share,  others   plate,    others   jewels;  amongst   the    rest,    one   got    3    bags   of 

silver." 

This  Mr.  Hugh  Peters  was  hanged  after  the  Restoration,  on  the  charge  that  by 
his  sermons  he  had  contributed  to  the  murder  of  his  Sovereign. 

Among  the  spoils  were  "  20  barrels  of  powder  and  matches,  9  colours,  2000 
stand  of  arms,  200  horses  ;  victuals  for  several  years,  including  400  quarters  of 
wheat,  soo  flitches  of  bacon,  200  barrels  of  beef,  40,000  pounds  of  cheese,  divers 
cellars  full  of  beer,  and  that  very  good  ;  silver  plate  valued  at  above  ;^5ooo,  and 
some  cabinets  of  jewels  and  treasure." 

The  N.  gateway  has  been  preserved,  and  shows  in  front  the  device  of  the 
Paulets  of  three  swords  ;  there  are  a  few  remains  of  ivy-covered  walls,  and  on  the 
old  mound  the  keep,  surrounded  by  its  ditch,  still  shows  where  the  last  fight  took 
place.  After  the  original  house  (of  which  there  is  a  small  but  careful  drawing  in 
Pamphlet  90  in  the  British  Museum,  published  1H24)  had  been  destroyed,  a 
mansion  was  built  on  the  N.  side  of  the  road  opposite  the  ruins  ;  then  the  finely 
jointed  brickwork  of  the  entrance  was  pulled  down  about  1765  by  the  Duke  of 
Bolton,  and  the  materials  were  carried  to  Cannons,  near  Kingsclere. 

Although  the  formation  of  the  Basingstoke  Canal  has  somewhat  altered  the 
position  of  the  streams,  rivulets,  and  water-meadows  lying  between  Basing 
House  and  Cowdery  Down,  the  site  of  Basing  town  on  the  E.,  with  a  little  wood 
between,  is  easily  identified. 

The  Marquess  of  Winchester  received  nothing  from  Charles  II.,  and  died  at 
another  house  which  he  built  at  Englefield,  Berks,  in  1674,  aged  seventy-six.  His 
eldest  son  Charles  took  the  side  of  William  of  Orange,  and  was  made  Duke  of 
Bolton  by  him,  when  William  III.  The  family  became  extinct  in  1774,  by  failure 
of  heirs  male,  when  the  estates  passed  by  the  daughter  of  the  fifth  duke  to 
Orde  Paulet,  created  Baron  Bolton. 

The  "Grange,"  which  figures  so  prominently  in  the  siege,  still  remains,  and  is 
now  made  use  of  as  a  barn  ;  its  masonry  and  fine  roof  are  as  good  as  ever, 


HAMPSHIRE  197 

BISHOP'S   WAI/IIIAM    (minor) 

ABOUT  ten  miles  S.W.  of  Winchester  is  the  lar{,'e  villajje  of  Bishop's  Waltham. 
The  chace  and  manor  of  Waltham  (Weald-hame,  or  the  home  in  the  chace, 
or  forest),  belonj^ed  to  the  See  of  Winchester  from  its  earliest  creation  :  Siiiipcr  fiiil 
(if  F.f>iuof>tilii,  is  said  of  it  in  Domesday  Book  ;  and  it  was  the  favourite  huntinf^- 
ground  of  the  princelike  bishops  of  the  twelfth  century,  when,  from  the  absence  of 
markets,  they,  like  their  Sovereigns,  had  to  rely  upon  their  game  preserves  for  the 
daily  food  of  themselves  and  their  large  following.     The  castle  had  a  beautiful  site, 
just   to   the   SAV.  of  the  present  town,  where  the  ruins  of  the  late  bishop's  palace, 
of  which   a  considerable   portion   remains,   show  the  giandeur  of  these   prelates 
in    the    days   of    their    power  and   wealth.      The  river   Ilamble,  there    a    rivulet 
flowing  through  the  valley,  was  embanked  so  as  to  form  a  large  sheet  of  water, 
both  for  protection  in  front,  and  also  to  feed  the  castle  moats,  and  supply  the  fish 
stews  or  ponds.     The  fortress  was  founded,  as  were  Wolvesey  and  Merdon,  by 
Bishop   llenry  de  Blois,  who,  .is  he  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  warlike 
prelates  of    the  day,  was  also  one  of  the  greatest  castle  builders.      Perhaps  this 
stronglujld   was  originally  intended  for  a  hunting  lodge,  defensible  like  Knepp  in 
Sussex  and  others,  and  to  it,  besides  the  chace  of  Waltham,  was  attached  a  park  of 
1000  acres  surrounding  the  place.     It  was  at  all  events  large  enough  for  Henry  11. 
to  hold  in  it  a  great  council  for  the  puipose  of  buying  supplies  towards  the  Crusade 
projected  by  him  ;  and  I^ichard   I.,  his  son,  was  entertained  here  after  his  coro- 
nation at  Winchester  on  his  return  from  captivity.     But  the  transformation  of  the 
place  into  a  refined  and  stately  abode  is  due  to  the  princely  taste   and    skill  of 
William  of  Wykeham,   when  Bishop  of  Winchester.     His  great  hall   in  the   inner 
court,  the  front  wall  of  which  remains  in  a   tolerably  entire  state,  had   the   noble 
proportions  of  66  feet  in  length  by  27  wide,  and  was  25  feet  high  ;  it  was  lighted  by 
five  hciutitul  windows  on  each   side,  and  tlierc  an.-  the  shafts  of  several  brick 
chinnieys  of  his  time.     He  died  here  in  1404,  in  his  eightieth  year.     Then  Bishop 
Langton,  who  succeeded  1493,  added  much  to  the  structure,  and  to  his  time  is 
ascribed  the  outer  court,   now  converted  into  a  farm  yard.     Some  other  parts 
were  added  by  other  bishops.     Of  the  older  and  defensible  structure  there  remains 
a  tower  17  feet  square  ;  and  the  wall  which  surrounds  the  area  of  the  palace  on 
the  E.  and  S.,  and  which  originally  ran  round  the  whole  of  it,  as  is  shown  in  the 
foundations,  is  most  probably  the  work  of  Langton.     The  form  of  the  place  is  a 
parallelogram  divided  into  two  courts,  the  W.  side  of  the  second  or  inner  court 
being    occupied  by  the  h.ill,  and  its  E.  side  by  the  chapel  ;    there   were   towers 
at  all  the  corners.     .Among  the  ruins  of  Langton's  buildings  is  one  of  large  dimen- 
sions, now  used  as  a  barn,  which  has  tiie  appearance  of  having  l>een  a  bakehouse, 
and  is  fitted  with  ovens,  above  it  being  the  dormitories;  the  large  building  outside 
w.as  perhaps  the  stable.     I^ishop  Fox,   the  great  statesman  and  prelate,  and  chief 
councillor  of  Henry  VII.,  held  the  See  of  Wmton  from  1501  to  1528,  and  as  the 


,cj8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

episcopal  ncome  was  then  equal  to  ;4'44,ooo  a  year  of  our  money  ("  Life  of  Bishop 
p^ox,"  by  E.  Chisholm  Batten),  he  was  able  to  keep  up  great  State  in  his  several 
palaces  and  castles,  and  we  read  that  he  kept  an  establishment  of  220  men- 
servants  at  Waltham.  In  this  bishop's  will  it  is  stated  that  he  left  all  his  castles, 
manor-houses  and  other  buildings  in  good  condition,  which  affords  a  useful  date 
in  appraising  their  subsequent  decay.  Grose  tells  us  that  this  palace  was  battered 
down  in  1645  by  artillery  from  the  E.  side,  placed  on  high  ground  near  the 
Southampton  road,  and  that  the  bishop  escaped  hidden  in  a  manure  cart.  Bishop 
Poynet  (temp.  Edward  VI.)  first  alienated  Waltham  in  favour  of  the  Marquess  of 
Winchester  ;  then  after  its  demolition  by  the  Parliament  the  manor  was  sold,  and 
the  bishop's  park  turned  into  a  farm.  Afterwards,  as  the  Bishops  of  Winchester 
had  the  castle  of  Farnham  for  a  palace,  there  was  no  necessity  for  rebuilding  this 
one,  and  the  fine  work  of  William  of  Wykeham  and  his  successors  was  left  to 
decay  and  so  perished. 

CALSHOT,  OR  CALD SHORE  {minor) 

AT  the  entrance  of  the  Southampton  Water  from  the  Solent  is  another  of  the 
blockhouse  forts  of  Henry  VIII.,  built  in  1540  to  command  this  entrance, 
at  the  same  time  as  Hurst  Castle,  from  which  it  is  distant  14  miles.  It  was 
originally  upon  a  small  island  until  early  in  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the 
action  of  the  tides  closed  the  dividing  channel.  Leland  calls  it  "a  strange,  late 
buildid  castelle,  caullid  Caldshore,  communely  Cawshot."  It  is  a  circular  tower 
of  two  storeys,  and  a  platform,  surrounded  by  a  low  circular  gun  terrace  with  the 
batterv,  having  the  dwellings  in  rear  ;  there  are  gun  embrasures  almost  all  round 
the  tower. 


CARISBROOKE  {chief) 

THE  Isle  of  Wight,  like  Kent,  was  peopled  by  Jutes,  who,  coming  in  under  the 
wing  of  the  actual  conquerors,  Cerdic  and  Cynric,  exterminated  the  existing 
Romano-British  inhabitants  at  the  bloody  battle  of  Wihtgaresbyrg  (Saxon  Chron.), 
a  name  which,  omitting  the  primarv  syllable,  became  "  Carisbrooke."  The  later 
castle,  whose  site  is  actually  that  of  the  battleheld  of  530,  was  conferred  by 
the  conquerors  on  their  relative  Wihtgar.  But  whereas  the  Jutes  of  Kent  were 
the  first,  those  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  were  the  last  among  the  English  to  embrace 
Christianity,  and  in  the  seventh  century  the  fine  proselvtising  zeal  of  the  West 
Saxons  led  them  to  invade  and  annihilate  with  their  murderous  knives  the  heathen 
islanders,  whose  land  they  annexed  to  the  Wessex  diocese. 

The  island  was  already  found  to  give  the  shortest  passage  between  England 
and  Normandy,  and  for  this  reason  was  used  in  Saxon  times,  as  also  by  William 
the  Conqueror  on  some  of  his  journeys  to  and  from  Normandy.     It  was  here  that 


HAMPSHIRE 


199 


lie  aiTcstcd  lu^  half  brother,  Bishop  Odo,  as  he  was  on  his  way  to  Rome,  and  here 
he  tarried  on  quitting  England  for  his  lust  journey  to  France.  William  granted  the 
Isle  of  Wight  to  William  Fit/Osb<jrne,  p:arl  of  Hereford,  who,  it  is  believed,  reared 
the  castle  ol  Carisbrooke,  in  which  Odo  was  arrested,  as  lie  likewise  founded  the 
priory  adjoining.  He  had  accompanied  his  leader  from  Normandy,  and  was  one 
of  his  armv  marshals.  Besides  having  tlie  loidship  of  tliis  isle,  lie  was  made 
constable  ..I  the  newly  built  castles  of  York  and  Winchester,  and  justiciary  for  the 


(_  .NKI^I'.Ki  H  .1.1 


King  in  the  North.  On  tlie  great  mound  of  the  Sa.\on  burh  at  Wihtgaresbyig  he 
built  a  Norman  keep,  but  as  he  was  killed  in  France  four  years  after  coming  to  the 
isle,  it  is  piobaliie  tliat  tlie  work  he  began  was  completed  by  liis  son,  Roger  de 
Bretteville,  who  was  imprisoned  for  life  by  William  for  levying  war  against  him, 
all  his  estates  being  forfeited  to  the  Crown. 

Henry  I.  next  gave  the  lordship  of  the  isle,  with  the  castle  and  honour  of 
Carisbrooke,  to  Richard  de  Redvers,  whose  son  succeeding  him  (temp.  Stephen), 
was  made  Earl  of  Devon  ;  large  additions  were  made  by  this  family  to  the  castle, 
which  was  held  by  the  Redvers  until  that  race  ended  in  an  heiress,  Isabella  de 
Fortibus,  so  called  from  her  marriage  with  an  Earl  of  Albemarle  of  that  name. 
This  lady  lived  here  (1262  izt)})  and  built  a  large  part  of  the  castle,  which,  at  her 
death,  she  bequeathed  to  King  Fdw.iril  I.  .Afterwards,  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
the  castle  was  held  by  Piers  Ciaveston,  William  Montague,  the  cliivalrous  Earl  of 


200  CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 

Salisbury,  and  by  Edward,  Earl  of  Rutland,  son  of  Edmund  of  Langley,  fifth  son 
of  Edward  ill.,  who  inherited  his  father's  title  of  Duke  of  York,  and  fell  at 
Agincourt,  when,  after  his  widow,  Philippa's,  death,  the  castle  and  island  fell  to 
Hmnplirev,  the  Good  Duke  of  Gloucester,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  After 
him  the  lordship  was  enjoyed  by  several  royal  and  other  personages,  and 
lastly  by  Anthony,  Earl  Rivers,  and  his  brother,  Sh"  Edward  Woodville,  who, 
together  with  a  lai'ge  force  he  had  raised  in  the  island,  fell  at  the  battle  of 
St.  Aubyn,  in  a  foolish  expedition  against  the  King  of  France.  Since  that  time 
Carisbrooke  has  always  been  held  by  the  Crown.  In  Elizabeth's  reign,  when 
preparations  were  made  on  the  south  coast  to  repel  the  Spanish  Armada,  very 

elaborate  outworks  were  planned 
and  executed  at  this  castle,  en- 
tirely surrounding  it  with  fortifi- 
cations of  the  then  new  type, 
escarp  and  ditch  and  ravelin  and 
redan,  which  exist  at  the  present 
time :  hut  they  were  never 
wanted,  and  only  served  use- 
fully as  a  promenade  for  the 
royal  victim.  King  Charles,  in 
his  imprisonment. 

Charles  having  escaped  from 
his  durance  with  the  army  at 
Hampton  Court  (November  1 1,  1647),  rode  to  Titchtield,  the  Earl  of  Southampton's 
place,  whence  he  might  have  sailed  by  Portsmouth  Harbour  to  the  Continent,  as 
his  intention  was  ;  but,  by  a  mistake,  Colonel  Hammond,  the  Governor  of  the  Isle 
of  Wight,  was  brought  to  Titchlield,  and  he  conducted  the  King  to  Carisbrooke, 
where  he  became  again  a  prisoner.  Here  three  attempts  seem  to  have  been  made, 
chiefly  by  some  gentlemen  of  the  island,  to  give  him  freedom  during  the  twelve 
months  of  his  detention.  On  the  first  of  these  occasions  it  was  arranged  that 
Charles  should  pass  through  the  window  of  his  room,  and  let  himself  down  to  the 
ramparts,  below  which  a  guide  with  a  horse  was  waiting,  and  a  boat  was  ready  to 
take  him  to  a  ship  in  the  ofting  ;  but  an  iron  bar  in  the  window  prevented  his  getting 
through,  and  so  the  King  had  to  wave  off  his  friends.  The  window  in  question  is 
discernible  from  the  outside  of  the  King's  lodgings  ;  it  adjoins  the  only  buttress  of 
the  wall,  and  is  walled  up.  On  another  occasion,  implements  having  been 
provided  for  him,  Charles  managed  to  saw  through  and  remove  the  bar  which 
mipeded  him,  and  all  arrangements  were  made  for  his  flight,  but  a  rascally  ofticer, 
one  Major  Rolfe,  was  entrusted  with  the  secret  and  betrayed  it.  So,  when  the 
Kmg  was  about  to  make  the  attempt,  he  observed  below  more  people  than  were 
expected,  and  wisely  decided  to  remain  where  he  was.  It  was  said  that  Rolfe 
mtended  to  have  shot  the  King  as  he  descended.     After  being  there  for  a  year. 


CARISBROOKE 


""''^d  fell  to      t, 


•«,  who, 
attleot 


Mi's  reign,  when 

'  '"iii,  vq 

-■■  A  planned 

i  Ullffi  castle,  en- 

!<^itmtli[ortiii- 

'■^  type, 

■vclin  and 

■.it  present 

llw  were  never 

ooly  im-ed  use- 

-  -  "i:  k  tlie 

.  ,  '.:.ir:c>,  la 

amt, 

a\Tiigesaj)ediroin 

■':;  army  at 

■jampton's 

.  atinent,  as 

GoRnioroitlielsle 

■Imsbtooke, 

.  Mnmade, 

^  .ijtliets'elve 

tusamngedtliat 

::iwntothe 

i;i5  ready  to 

.Jhisgetting 

-:  question  is 

.^  only  buttress  of 

-  'vmng  te» 

:  bar  All 

,Jy  officer, 

tdil  So,  when  te 

oft™p.vthaiiwe 


;  lor  a  year, 


hi 


202  CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 

C  H  R  I  S T  C  H  U  R  C  H    {minor) 

THE  estuary  on  the  \V.  end  of  Cliiistcluirch  Bay  receives  the  waters  of  two 
streams,    the    Stour   and  the   Avon,    botli   common    names   for   rivers    in 
England.    Tliev,  liowing  in  paiallel  courses  before  reaching  the  saU  water,  leave  a 
strip  of  land  intermediate  between  them,  which  being  thus  well  protected  on  the 
E.  and  \V.,  was  occupied    in   early  times  with   a  defensible  settlement  by  the 
British  ;  and  afterwards,  the  Saxons  (probably  Edward  the  Elder  on  the  death  of 
his  father  Alfred)  raised  a  Inn  li  at  the  highest  spot  on  this  neck  of  land  about  the 
year  902,  when  it  was  seized  by  his  nephew  Ethelwald,  who,  however,  soon  left  the 
south  country.     The  name  of  the  place  was  then  Tweoxneham,  "  the  home  by  the 
two  rivers,"  which  woid  became  afterwards  "  Twineham."     It  was  a  very  strong 
position,  being  surrounded  by  marshes  beyond  the  rivers.     King  Edward's  burh, 
or  mound,  was  of  course  covered  with  a  timber  house,  surrounded  by  a  stockade 
with  moat  below  and  palisading.     The  place  seems  always  to  have  been  a  royal 
vill,   and  by   the    Domesday   account  belonged  to    the   Confessor   and  then  to 
William  I.     The  ground  thus  occupied  by  the  castle  buildings  and  enclosure,  as 
likewise  bv  the  minster  and  priory,  is  on  the  \V.  bank  of  the  Avon,  near  the 
bridge  by  which  the  road  crosses ;  a  leat  taken  olif  the  stream  to  the  priory  mill 
passes  along  the  wall  of  the  Norman  house,  or  constable's  dwelling,  and  other 
castle   buildings   were   ranged   along   this   stream,    which    also    filled    the    moat 
surrounding  the  enclosure.     This  moat  ran  from  the  bridge,  E.  and  W.,  forming 
the  N.  defence,  and  turning  S.  near  the  keep  mound  continued  for  some  400 
yards,  when  it  turned  E.  at  right  angles  to  meet  the  leat  again,  thus  enclosing  a 
rectangular  area  in  which  all  the  castle  buildings  were  contained,  and  doubtless 
originally  the  early  town  itself.     Inside  the  moat  would,  of  course,  run  at  first  an 
earthen  rampart,  to  be  succeeded  by  a  strong  stone  wall  of  curtains  between 
mural    towers.       The    mound    in   the    N.W.  corner  is  oblong,  160  feet  by  150, 
and    20    feet    in    height,    and   here   it   is   believed    Richard   de    Redvers  built   his 
castle,  for  whom  Henry   I.  alienated  the  manor,  creating  him  Earl  of  Devon. 
He  died  in   1137,  and  the  building  seems  to  have  been  completed  by  his  son 
Baldwin,  who  died  in   1155.       These  Redvers,   Earls  of   Devon,  had  the  head 
of    their    barony  at    Plympton    Earl,    near    Plvmouth,   where  are   still  the   ruins 
of  their  extensive  seat  and  castle.     They  succeeded  one  another  till  47  Henry  III. 
(1262),  when  Baldwin,  the  eighth  and  last  Earl  dying  5./.,  his  estates  went  to  his 
sister  Isabel,  who  brought  them  to  her  husband,  William  de   Fortibus,  Earl  of 
Albemarle,  a  constant  supporter  of  the  Barons'   party  against  Henry  III.     She 
was   left  a  widow   in   1260,  and  in  1268  had  livery  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  as  heir 
to  her  brother,  the  Earl  of  Devon  (her  seal  is  given  by  Blaauw),  and  dying  in 
1269  left   her   large  possessions   to   her    only   surviving    daughter,   Aveline,   who 
married  that  year  Prince  Edmund  "Crouchback"  (second  son  of  Henry  111.),  Earl 
of  Lancaster.     She  died  i.p.,  bequeathing  her  property  to  King  Edward  1.,  her 


HAMPSHIRE  203 

brother-iii-hiw,  \vh<j  in  1299  assigned  this  castle  and  lands  to  his  second  wife, 
Queen  Margaret  of  France,  in  dower.  Kdward  III.  held  the  place  himself, 
and  granted  it  in  his  third  year  to  Sir  William  Montague,  whom  he  after- 
wards made  Earl  of  Salisbury,  for  his  services  in  taking  Mortimer,  Earl  of 
March  {see  Nottingham),  and  whose  lands  were  held  by  the  military  ser\ice 
of  this  castle;  Salisbury  died  seised  of  it  in  1349.  Although  all  the  possessions 
of  these  Earls  of  Salisbury  were  forfeited  by  the  attainder  of  John,  third  Earl, 
on  the  failure  of  the  conspnacy  to  restore  Richard  II.,  yet  Elizabeth,  widow 
of  the  second  Karl,  was  seised  (jf  the  castles  and  lands  of  the  earldom, 
2  Henry  V.  In  32  Henry  VI.  the  castle,  hundred,  and  borough  of  Christ- 
church  were  granted  to  Richard  Xevill,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  in  right  of  Lady 
Alice  his  wife,  heiress  of  the  Montagu  fanuly,  lor  twelve  Years  at  the  annual 
rent  of  a  red  rose.  Their  son  was  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  king- 
maker, whose  daughter  Isabel  married  George,  Duke  of  Clarence  (of  the 
Malmsey  butt),  and  their  son  Edward,  Earl  of  Warwick,  held  Christchurch 
until  his  forfeiture  ami  nuirder  by  Henry  VII.  in  1499,  after  which  HenivX'lll. 
granted  his  estates  to  his  sister,  the  Countess  Margaret,  married  to  Sir  Richard 
Pole,  until  in  turn  lie  caused  her,  too,  to  be  beheaded,  1541,  when  she  was  buried 
in  Christchurch  minster.  By  descent  from  her  through  her  granddaughter, 
Catherine  Pole,  the  inheritors  of  the  Hastings  baronies  claimed,  "the  chantry 
erected  for  their  Plantagenet  ancestress  in  the  priory  church,  they  being  heirs 
general."  Christchurch  remained  with  the  Crown  till  James  I.,  and  was  then 
sold  to  various  persons  in  succession,  being  fuially  purchased  by  Sir  (leorge  Rose. 
It  now  belongs  to  the   Hon.   Lady  Rose. 

The  keep  was  a  soUd  rectangular  structure,  the  peculiar  feature  of  which  was 
that  its  four  corners  outside  were  cut  off,  and  so  gave  the  effect  of  an  irregular 
octagon,  without  the  usual  Norman  pilasters.  (Clark.)  Only  the  E.  and  W.  walls 
are  standing,  about  30  feet  in  height,  and  with  these  alone  little  can  be  made  out 
of  the  arrangements.  It  is  very  rare  to  find  solid  keeps  built  upon  mounds,  as 
generally  the  lighter  "  shell  "  towers  were  adopted  for  these  situations,  or,  as  at 
Guildford,  the  square  keep  was  built  partly  upon  footings  which  rose  from  the 
slopes  of  the  mound. 

The  other  building  is  that  of  the  constable's  house,  ne.ir  the  bridge  and  by  the 
side  of  the  mill  leat  ;  this  also  is  rectangular,  measuring  71  feet  by  24,  having  a 
garderobe  tower  projecting  at  the  S.E.  coi  ner,  built  over  the  leat,  whose  waters 
thus  flow  under  and  through  it.  Next  to  this  is  a  water-gate  »)pening  to  the  leat. 
Besides  this  there  are  two  other  entrances  to  the  mansion,  having  large  arches 
with  zigzag  and  billet  mouldings.  The  hall  was  on  the  first  floor  and  occupied 
the  whole  space,  with  its  entrance  at  the  S.  end  under  a  line  circular-headed 
doorway.  The  S.  gable  and  circular  window  remain  nearly  entire,  and  at  the 
N.  end  is  a  fine  late-Norman  double  light  window,  the  side  walls  having  good 
wmdows  also  ;    the  N.E.  corner   has  fallen.     Nothing  can  be  ;iscertained  with 


204  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

certainty  as  to  the  origin  of  this  castle,  or  of  the  other  buildings  which  con- 
stituted it. 

C  O  W  E  S  (nou-existeiit) 

L ELAND  writing  (temp.  Henry  VIII.)  about  1540  says:  "Two  new  castles 
have  been  set  up  in  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  one  on  the  E.  of  the  haven  (Medina) 
called  E.  Cow,  and  that  on  the  W.  side,  W.  Cow,  and  it  is  the  bigger  of  the  two,  the 
distance  between  them  being  a  good  mile."  The  former  of  these  "  blockhouses  " 
has  for  more  than  a  century  so  entirely  disappeared  that  no  vestiges  of  it  can  be 
found,  yet  its  memory  is  preserved  in  the  name  of  the  point  where  it  stood,  on 
the  shore,  near  the  modern  East  Cowes  Castle,  which  is  still  called  "  Old  Castle 
Point." 

The  old  fort  of  West  Cowes  was  standing  until  lately,  but  is  now  superseded 
by  the  buildings  of  the  Royal  Yacht  Squadron.  The  drawing  of  it  shows  a 
circular  tower  with  a  battery  on  ground  level  in  front,  and  a  platform  on  the  roof ; 
in  rear  and  attached  to  this  was  a  square  block  with  end  gable  containing  dwellings 
for  the  garrison,  and  below  the  gable  a  small  circular  gun  platform  ;  there  were 
no  battlements  or  embrasures.  Lord  Herbert  in  his  life  of  Henry  VIII.  mentions 
that  the  French  under  Admiral  D'Annebault  made  a  descent  on  the  Isle  of 
Wight  in  1554  at  this  place,  but  were  beaten  off  and  many  were  slain. 

HURST   {minor) 

HURST  is  one  of  the  larger  blockhouses,  or  forts,  erected  in  1539  round  the 
S.  coasts  of  England  by  Henry  VIII.  when  he  was  expecting  troubles 
with  foreign  Catholic  countries.  It  is  the  key  of  the  narrow  Solent  strait,  where 
the  channel  between  it  and  the  Isle  of  Wight  is  barely  a  mile  in  width,  and  stands 
at  the  S.  end  of  a  narrow  spit  or  bank  of  shingle  stretching  nearly  two  miles  out 
from  the  land.  This  bank  is  a  singular  ridge  of  gravel  and  flints,  formed  by  the 
run  of  the  tide  eastward,  which  stands  like  a  cliff  on  the  W.  side,  200  feet  deep, 
giving  a  depth  of  33  fathoms  close  to  the  castle  ;  on  the  E.  of  it  the  foreshore 
consists  of  mud  only.  The  fort  is  comprised,  like  a  similar  "  blockhouse  "  at 
Winchelsea,  of  a  low  central  circular  tower,  of  two  storeys,  with  three  or  four 
lower  drum  bastions  clustered  round  it,  connected  together  by  curtain  walls.  The 
work  occupying  as  it  does  so  important  a  position  on  the  coast,  has  been 
strengthened  of  late  years,  and  some  outworks  have  been  added  to  support  it. 

The  only  historical  event  associated  with  Hurst  Castle  is  the  confinement  there 
for  a  period  of  twenty-seven  days  of  the  unfortunate  King  Charles  during  the 
last  few  weeks  of  his  life.  In  a  MS.  m  the  British  Museum  the  following 
account  is  given  of  his  removal  from  Carisbrooke  Castle  to  this  fortress  :  "In  the 
morning  of  November    29th,  1648,  the  King,   hearing  a  great   knocking   at    his 


HAMPSHIRE  205 

dressing-room  door,  sent  the  Duke  of  Richmond  to  Icurn  its  meaning."  It  was 
said  that  some  gentlemen  from  the  army  wished  to  speak  with  him,  and  tliese 
being  admitted  rushed  to  the  King,  who  was  in  bed,  and  abruptly  told  him  they 
had  orders  to  remove  him.  On  his  enquiring  whither,  after  some  talking  apart, 
they  told  him,  "To  Hurst  Castle."  "  They  could  not  name  a  worse,"  remarked 
Charles.  Tlien  scarcely  giving  him  time  for  breakfast,  they  hurried  him  into  a 
coach,  allowing  the  Duke  of  Richmond  to  accompany  him  for  two  miles  only. 
The  carriage  containing  the  unh.ippy  King  moved  slowly  on,  guarded  by  two 
troops  of  horse,  from  Newport  towards  Worseley's  Tower,  a  little  beyond 
Yarmouth  haven  (a  small  port  opposite  Lymington  river),  where  they  rested  an 
hour  and  then  went  into  a  boat,  when,  "  the  wind  and  tide  favouring, '  says  Sir 
Thomas  Herbert,  "  they  crossed  the  narrow  sea  in  three  hours,  and  landed  at 
Hurst  Castle."  The  custodian  who  received  the  King  at  this  wretched  place  is 
described  as  not  unsuitable.  "  His  look  was  stern  ;  his  hair  and  large  beard 
were  black  and  bushy  ;  he  held  a  partizan  in  his  hand,  and  (Switzer-like)  had 
a  great  basket-hilt  sword  by  his  side  ;  hardly  could  one  see  a  man  of  more  grim 
aspect,  and  no  less  robust  and  rude  was  his  behaviour."  So  that  Charles,  who 
half-suspected  his  gaolers  of  the  worst  intentions  against  himself,  remarked  to  his 
attendants  that  if  this  were  so,  here  was  the  place  and  these  the  people  for  such 
deeds.  At  that  time  the  fort  contained  only  a  few  "  dog-lodgings  "  for  soldiers  ; 
surrounded  by  a  wintry  sea,  with  the  waves  beating  against  its  walls,  it  must 
have  been  a  prison  dreary  enough  to  the  King,  deprived  of  all  his  friends  and  at 
the  mercy  of  his  enemies.  His  fears  were  especially  aroused  when,  on 
December  18,  he  was  awakened  at  midnight  by  the  arrival  of  Colonel  Harrison, 
against  whom  lie  had  been  warned,  with  a  following  of  armed  men.  This,  how- 
ever, proved  to  be  an  escort  sent  to  conduct  him  to  Windsor,  whither  they 
brought  him  next  day,  thence  taking  him  to  his  doom  at  Whitehall. 

Charles's  chamber  is  still  to  be  seen  in  the  fort ;  it  was  a  mere  closet,  on  the 
second  storey,  measuring  8  feel  by  4^  only. 

MERDON   {minor) 

AVKW  miles  S.  of  Winchester,  at  the  N.  corner  of  Hursley  Park,  half  a  mile 
from  the  modern  mansion,  are  the  ruins  of  another  episcopal  palace,  built 
also  by  Bishop  Henry  de  Blois  for  a  countiy  residence  in  1138,  but  from  the 
condition  of  the  times,  necess;uily  in  the  form  of  a  strong  castle,  surrounded  by  a 
wall  and  a  double  moat.  Henrv  II.,  however,  in  his  determined  raid  against  these 
iinnimerable  castles,  caiised  it  to  be  dismantled,  after  which  the  fabric  soon  went 
to  decay.  The  only  remains  of  it  at  the  present  day  are  pt)rtions  of  rough  Huit 
walls,  and  a  part  of  the  keep,  with  traces  of  the  ditches,  and  the  deep  castle  well. 
Bishop  Poynet  surrendered  the  manor  to  Edward  VI.,  and  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Richard  M.ijor,  the  place  Ixcame 


2o6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  property  of  Richard  Cromwell,  tlie  ex-Protector,  who  lived  at  Hursley  Park 
manor-house  after  his  retirement.  He  died  in  1712,  when  his  daughters, 
co-heiresses,  sold  the  manor  to  the  Heathcote  family.  Then  the  old  house  was 
pulled  down,  and  a  new  mansion  built.  In  the  building  was  found  the  seal  of  the 
Commonwealth,  supposed  to  be  the  very  one  taken  away  by  Oliver  Cromwell  from 
the  Parliament.  The  fragment  left  of  the  ancient  castle  belonged  to  the  keep,  the 
most  massive  and  the  strongest  portion  of  it,  which  lay  on  the  N.  side  of  the  inner 
area,  surrounded  by  a  double  moat.  In  1551  the  place  was  taken  from  Bishop 
Gardiner  and  given  to  Sir  Philip  Hobby,  whose  descendants  kept  it  till  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  There  are  no  records  of  any  siege  sustained  at  this 
castle,  nor  of  any  fighting  in  connection  with  it. 

NETLEY  (»imo,-) 

CLOSE  to  Netley  Abbey  on  the  shore  was  another  small  fort,  built  by 
Henry  VI 1 1,  at  a  late  date,  to  protect  the  approach  to  Southampton,  and 
prevent  a  landing  at  that  part  of  the  coast  opposite  to  the  town.  In  March  1627, 
the  staff  of  this  fort,  called  "  Westoun  Fortress,"  consisted  of  a  captain  at  35.  daily 
pay,  two  soldiers  at  6(1.,  a  porter  at  8(/.,  and  six  gunners  at  Gd.,  the  annual 
cost  being  ;^I03  Ss.  41/. 

It  stood  upon  a  little  hill,  now  secluded  among  trees,  and  held  two  small 
platforms ;  in  rear  is  a  modern  cottage  attached  to  it.  The  tower  is  the 
addition  of  a  late  proprietor,  who  took  the  idea  from  one  of  Horace  Walpole's 
letters,  recommending  such  an  adjunct  to  render  the  fort  habitable. 

The  castle  is  only  about  200  yards  from  the  W.  entrance  of  the  abbey,  and 
seems  to  have  been  built  on  the  site  of  the  water-gate  of  that  institution  ;  there  is 
a  connecting  passage  between  the  two  still  existing,  which,  beginning  in  the  abbey 
kitchen,  opens  into  the  castle  grounds  above  the  house.  The  walls  of  Henry  VHI.'s 
fort,  9  to  12  feet  thick,  and  upwards  of  15  feet  in  height,  are  to  be  seen  within  the 
present  house,  having  been  hollowed  out  and  pierced  in  the  construction  of  the 
dining-room  there,  and  two  blocked-up  doors  are  said  to  be  traceable  in  the 
cellars,  as  likewise  are  the  moat  and  earthworks  along  the  whole  front  of  the  garden 
and  carriage  drive.  This  gatehouse  has  undergone  so  much  change,  first  when  trans- 
formed into  a  fort  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  afterwards  in  its  conversion  into  a  private 
residence,  that  it  retains  little  of  its  original  form  ("Collect.  Archieolog."  1881). 

ODIHAM   (mmor) 

AT  Odiliam  the  Kings  of  Wessex  had  a  palace,  of  which  there  can  be  no 
remains,  and  on  its  site,  in  all  probability,  a  castle  was  built  soon  after  the 
Conquest,  which  frequently  figures  in  the  history  of  the  three  succeeding  centuries. 
For  some  time  it  appears  to  have  belonged  to  the  See  of  Winchester,  like  F'arnham 


HAMPSHIRE  207 

Castle,  which,  with  it,  quite  cominaiuletl  the  direct  route  lx.-t\veen  London  and 
Winchester.  Kinji  John  found  liiinself  stranded  in  this  castle  with  a  followinj^  of  only 
seven  knij^hts  imniediatelv  before  his  submission  to  the  confederate  barons  at 
Runyniede,  in  1215,  and  from  hence  he  set  out  to  liold  tile  ;4reat  meetinji ;  hitiier, 
too,  he  returned  from  it  in  j^reat  ill-humour.  In  the  ne.\t  year  Matthew  Paris  fells 
us  of  the  sief^e  it  sustained  at  the  hands  of  Louis  the  Dauphin  and  a  larj^e  French 
army,  furnished  with  all  the  warlike  machines  and  appliances  suitable  for  such 
operations  in  those  days,  and  of  the  very  jj;allant  and  extraordinary  defence  made  by 
the  garrison,  which  consisted  of  three  ollicers  and  ten  soldiers  only.  Such  was 
the  bravery  of  this  little  band  that  on  the  third  day,  when  tlie  French  bej^an  to 
batter  the  walls  furiously,  the  three  ofhcers  with  three  private  men  s;illied  out, 
and  seizinji  on  a  like  luunber  of  the  besiegers,  otticers  and  men,  dragged  them 
hack  into  the  castle  with  them.  At  last  after  the  siege  had  gone  on  for  a  fortnight 
they  surrendered  to  the  Dauphin,  on  condition  of  retaining  their  freedom,  and 
marched  out  with  their  horses  and  arms  and  the  full  honours  of  war,  without 
having  lost  a  man — to  the  great  astonishment  and  admiration  of  the  French. 
Odiham  Castle  was  given  by  the  next  king,  Henry  III.,  to  his  brother-in-law, 
Simon  de  Montfort,  Karl  of  Leicester,  whose  wife  and  fannly  made  it  their 
principal  abode  after  leaving  Kenilworth.  This  Simon,  afterwards  one  of  the  great 
men  of  English  history,  a  Frenchman,  descended  from  a  king  of  France,  came  over 
to  England  in  1232,  to  do  homage  to  Henry  for  lands  inherited  from  his  Englisli 
grandmother,  Petronilla,  Countess  of  Leicester.  Being  "a  gentleman  of  choice 
blo(Kl,  education,  and  feature,"  he  won  the  affections  of  the  Princess  Eleanor, 
Henry's  sister,  widow  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  married  her  in  1238,  when  the 
King  settled  on  her  for  life  his  royal  castle  of  Keniiworth.  Hut  Henry,  though  he 
invested  Simon  as  Earl  of  Leicester  in  1 239,  treated  him  capriciously  and  with 
disfavour,  and  the  next  year  we  fuid  the  earl  a  Crusader  in  the  Holy  Land, 
whence  he  returned  in  1241.  He  was  for  several  years  following  employed  by 
Henry  in  quelling  the  disaffection  and  war  in  Gascony.  At  this  time  the  position 
of  de  Montfort  had  grown  into  such  eminence  in  England,  that  he  is  said  to 
have  been  "esteemed  above  all  persons  native  and  foreign,"  and  therefore  when 
he  espoused  the  popular  side,  on  the  breaking  out  of  troubles  which  arose 
through  the  King's  abuse  of  power  and  bad  faith,  he  was  trusted  and  followed  in 
his  leading,  foreigner  as  he  was,  bv  the  bulk  of  the  English  people.  When  the 
O.xford  Statutes  were  passed,  the  provisions  of  which  form  the  very  origin  of  our 
English  representative  system,  de  Montfort  was  at  the  head  of  this  supreme  council, 
to  which  the  legislative  power  was  in  reality  transferred,  and  all  their  measures 
were  taken  by  his  secret  influence  and  direction.  (Hume.)  It  is  dit^cult  to  under- 
stand, if  Humes  character  of  him  be  true  as  a  bold  conspirator,  with  boundless 
ambition,  avarice,  and  treachery,  liow  he  could  ever  have  acquired  the  love  and 
devotion  of  the  people,  who,  calling  him  "  the  poor  man's  friend, "  believed  in  him 
living  and  worshipped  him  dead. 


2o8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

After  tlie  battle  of  Lewes,  when  ihu  country  was  at  rest,  the  Princess  Eleanor, 
Countess  of  Leicester,  came  early  ui  1265  to  her  husband's  castle  of  Odiham,  and 
kept  j^reat  state  there.  A  curious  detail  of  the  life  and  habits  of  the  Princess  and 
her  family  has  lately  been  brought  to  light,  in  the  roll  of  household  expenses 
kept  by  her  steward  at  Odiham,  which  was  recovered  from  the  wreck  of  a 
French  nunnery  during  the  Ke\x)lution  (B.  Mus.  Add.  MSS.  8877),  and  is 
the  earliest  account  known  of  the  private  expenditure  of  a  household.  In 
those  days,  when  roads  were  few  and  bad,  all  travelling  was  performed  on  horse- 
back, and  the  number  of  horses  necessary  for  a  large  establishment  was  very  great, 
entailin"  large  stabling  accommodation,  such  as  we  see  at  Kenilworth.  During 
their  stay  at  Odiham  her  nephews,  Prince  Edward  (afterwards  Edward  1.)  and 
his  brother  Henrv,  who  were  hostages  to  the  confederate  Barons,  were  allowed 
to  visit  their  aunt  here,  and  came  with  their  huntsmen,  sporting  dogs,  and  128 
horses  ;  there  came  at  the  same  time  the  earl  himself  with  162  more  horses,  so 
that  with  the  forty-four  belonging  to  the  countess,  her  stables  had  to  provide  for  334 
horses.  (Blaauw.)  In  April,  de  Montfort's  power  began  to  be  threatened,  and  he 
cjuitted  Odiham,  and  his  wife,  who  never  saw  him  again.  Then,  in  May,  Prince 
Edward's  escape  from  Hereford  (sec  HEREFORD  and  WiGMORE)  rekindled  the 
embers  of  civil  war,  and  for  greater  security  the  Princess  left  Odiham  for 
Porchester  Castle,  where  her  son  was  governor. 

In  1298  the  castle  with  its  park  and  hundred  were  settled  on  King  Edward's 
second  Queen,  Margaret  of  France,  and  (temp.  Edward  lU.)  the  whole  was 
leased  to  Sir  Robert  Brocas  for  ;^5  a  year.  Again  they  were  granted  by 
Henry  IV.  to  Lord  Beaumont  for  his  life,  and  22  Henry  \'I.  were  given  to 
Queen  Margaret  for  life,  together  with  many  other  castles  and  manors. 

Odiham  is  also  memorable  as  the  place  of  confinement  where  David  Bruce, 
King  of  Scotland,  passed  the  greater  part  of  the  eleven  dreary  years  of  his 
captivitv  ;  he  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Neville's  Cross,  near  Durham, 
by  Sir  John  Copeland,  fighting  so  valiantly  that  he  caused  the  loss  of  most 
of  his  captor's  teeth  after  being  himself  severely  wounded  by  arrows  in  the 
head  and  leg.  The  battle  was  fought  in  October  1346,  the  same  year  as 
Crecy,  during  the  absence  of  Edward  III.  in  France.  King  David  was 
at  last  released  from  Odiham  on  payment  of  a  ransom  of  100,000  marks 
(_^'66,666  i3,s-.  4(/.)  Queen  Elizabeth  visited  this  castle  more  than  once  during 
some  of  her  royal  progresses  ;  afterwards,  James  L  presented  it  to  Lord  Zouche, 
from  whose  family  the  place  passed  hv  purchase  to  the  Mildmays,  being  now 
the  property  of  Sir  H.  St.  John  Mildmay,  Bart. 

The  situation  of  the  castle,  about  a  mile  N.W.  of  the  town,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Whitewater  stream,  is  low  and  wet,  being  little  raised  above  the  marsh 
level.  It  cannot  now  be  known  what  was  its  extent,  since  there  are  no  remains 
whatever  existing  except  those  of  the  great  octagonal  tower  :  other  buildings, 
however,  must  have  stood  in  its  vicinity. 


HAMPSHIRE  209 

Tliis  tower,  whose  faces  are  about  22i  feet  long,  has  an  internal  diameter 
of  38  feet,  and  its  heij^ht  may  have  been  68  feet  (Clark);  it  is  built  of  flint 
rubble,  and  had  a  casin;,'  of  stone  which  has  disappeared.  There  was  a 
basement  12  feet  high,  with  six  openings  for  light,  the  first  floor  being  a  grand 
one,  30  feet  in  height,  with  a  large  fireplace  and  round-headed  windows.  The 
upper  storev  was  18  feet  liigli.  All  the  floors  were  of  timber  and  must  have 
been  supported  by  a  central  pillar,  either  of  stone  or  of  timber,  as  in  the 
Wakefield  Tower  at  London.  Mr.  Clark  is  of  opinion  that  the  style  is  of  the 
English  transition  from  Norman,  but  that  the  buttresses,  which  cap  each  angle, 
point  rather  to  the  time  of  Richard  1. 

A  large  portion  of  the  W.  side  has  fallen,  perhaps  weakened  by  the  staircase, 
which  was  carried  up  in  the  wall  to  the  summit. 

PORCH  K ST  ER  {chief) 

Ox  a  low  lying  tongue  of  land  extending  into  shallow  water  on  the  N. 
Ill  Portsmouth  Harbour,  wliicli  they  knew  as  the  Poiliis  Muflims,  the 
Romans  formed  a  fortified  post  which  was  both  a  camp  and  a  port,  as  its 
name  implies.  The  former  contained  nine  acres  of  space,  with  three  of  its 
sides  protected  by  the  sea,  and  the  neck  of  land  by  strong  ramparts  of  earth 
and  wet  ditches,  while  tlu-  pmt  was  a  niagniiicent  one  where  their  fleets  could 
lie  in  safety,  easily  protected  at  its  narrow  entrance,  and  convenient  for  passage 
between  England  and  the  X.W.  of  Gaul.  The  rectangular  enclosure  is  formed  by 
a  well-built  wall  of  flint  with  bands  of  red  tile,  from  15  to  20  feet  in  height, 
and  flanked  at  regular  intervals  and  at  the  corners  by  semicircular  headed 
bastions,  hollow  in  the  centre,  those  at  the  corners  being  open  in  the  gorge. 
No  Roman  remains  exist  in  England  in  so  perfect  a  state.  The  E.  face, 
which  is  washed  by  the  sea,  is  40  feet  in  height  and  contains  in  the  centre 
the  water-gate,  opposite  to  which  on  the  W.  i-  the  main  entrance  to  the 
fortress.  There  was  probably  a  wooden  jilatform  round  the  inside  forming 
a  covered  allure  for  defence  of  the  wall.  X.  of  the  land-gate,  and  at  some 
distance  from  the  N.  wall,  there  stretches  across  the  neck  of  the  promontory 
a  high  bank  of  earth  defended  in  front  by  a  broad  and  deep  wet  ditch, 
divided  now  by  a  gap  of  earth  as  entrance  to  the  work.  Inside  this  Roman 
camp,  Henry  1.  in  1133  founded  a  priory  of  .Augustine  Canons,  and  built 
the  existing  church  of  St.  Mary.  Then  in  lla  X.W.  corner  of  the  enclosure 
he  erected  a  rectangular  keep,  faced  with  Caen  stone,  for  which  the  Roman 
wall  was  removed,  having  three  of  its  angles  slightly  projecting  bevond  its 
face.  To  protect  this  donjon  was  erected  a  strong  inner  enclosure  formed 
by  two  w.ills  meeting  the  W.  and  N.  faces  of  the  enceinte.  It  had  its  own 
defended  gateway  and  an  .mgle  tower,  and  contained  the  dwellings  and  offices 
of  the  garrison. 

VOL.  I.  2  u 


210 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


The  military  history  of  Porcliestcr  is  meagre,  tlicnigh  it  was  of  importance  in 
early  times.  In  iioi  Uuke  Robert  of  Normandy  invaded  England  at  this  place 
on  iiis  attempt  to  gain  the  crown  usurped  by  his  younger  brother  Henry  I. 
It  has  always  been  held  by  the  Sovereign.  King  John  was  here  on  eighteen 
occasions,  for  fifty-two  days  altogether,  between  1200  and  12 14,  and  seems  to 
have  used  the  cellars  for  the  storage  of  large  quantities  of  wine  ;  he  made  Por- 
chester  his  place  of  departure  when  sailing  to  the  Continent.     In   Henry  III.'s 

time  the  castle  received  ex- 
tensive repairs  and  additions, 
and  was  placed  in  the  keeping 
of  Simon  de  Montfort,  second 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester, 
whose  mother,  the  Princess 
Eleanor,  in  June  1265,  on 
leaving  Odiham  Castle, 
Hants  ((/.!'.),  at  the  recom- 
mencement of  hostilities  after 
the  escape  of  Prince  Edward 
(sec  Hereford),  made  her 
way  thence  in  order  to  join 
him  at  Porchester,  attended 
by  a  cavalcade  of  eighty- 
eight  horses  ;  but  she  soon 
after  left  this  place  for  the 
greater  security  of  Dover. 
Edward  I.  and  Edward  II. 
were  frequent  visitors  here,  and  Richard  11.,  at  the  close  of  the  Decorated  period, 
carried  out  many  additions.  It  was  from  this  port  that  Henry  V.  set  out  for 
his  glorious  campaign  of  Agincourt,  and  here  were  arrested  in  1415  Richard, 
Earl  of  Cambridge,  Henry,  Lord  Scrope  of  Masham,  and  Sir  Thomas  Grey  of 
Heton,  for  conspiring  to  place  the  Earl  of  March  on  the  throne,  and  on 
their  voluntary  confession  they  were  adjudged  to  die  and  were  beheaded, 
Scrope's  head  being  afttxed  on  the  Micklegate  of  York.  To  Porchester  came 
Margaret  of  Anjou  to  be  married  to  the  young  Henrv  VI.  Queen  Elizabeth 
used  this  castle  and  held  l.er  Court  here,  and  her  armorial  bearings  mark 
certain  Tudor  alterations.  Since  that  time,  honour  and  glory  seem  to  have 
deserted  this  fortress,  which  passed  into  private  hands,  but  has  from  time  to  time 
been  used  as  a  State  prison.  It  now  belongs  to  Mr.  T.  Thistlethwayte,  of  South- 
wick.  During  the  last  century  the  Crown  held  the  castle  on  lease,  and  it  was  fitted 
up  as  a  place  of  detention  for  French  and  Spanish  prisoners  of  war.  In  1761 
there  were  no  fewer  than  4000  of  these,  and  after  the  battle  of  Camperdown  it  was 
filled  with  sailors  from  the  Dutch  fleet. 


PORCHESTER 


HAMPSHIRE 


21  I 


When  lliL-  KmpcToi  Napoleon  was  sc-iit  to  Ellia,  and  llic  Bourbon  dynasty 
returned  in  1X14,  tlic  Knf^lisli  Ministry  af^rced  to  restore  the  French  prisoners, 
provided  that  tlicy  would  first  declare  their  adhesion  to  the  House  of  Bourbon, 
and  in  token  thereof,  to  effect  their  liberation,  the  prisoners  at  Porchester  were 
directed  to  hoist  a  symbolic  white  flajLj  on  the  cxstle  tower.  The  proposal  was 
most  unpalatable  to  the  majority  of  Krencli  officers  there,  who  were  soldiers  of  the 
Empire,  and  a  whole  day  of  vehement  discussion  ensued ;  but  at  last  principle  ^^ave 


PORCHKSTKR 


way  to  prudence  and  the  love  of  home,  and  in  the  eveninj^  the  white  flag  of  old 
France  floated  on  the  ancient  tower  of  Porchester.  A  few  days  after  the  prisoners 
were  released. 

The  keep  contained  four  storeys,  having  timber  floors,  with  a  spiral  staircase 
giving  access  to  them,  and  a  vaulted  stone  basement,  used  as  a  cellar.  At  the  S.E. 
angle  of  the  inner  wall  is  a  large  sijuare  tower,  set  diagonally,  in  order  to  flank 
both  sides  of  the  wall  ;  .uul  at  the  X.E.  angle  of  the  outer  wall  is  a  large  and 
strong  tower,  connecting  the  ramjiart  walks  on  either  side  ;  the  base  of  this  tower 
is  Norman,  and  the  top  and  battlements  are  Early  Perpendicular.  There  is  a 
very  curious  gatehouse  entrance  to  the  inner  ward,  with  two  long  parallel  walls  of 
approach  supporting  a  drawbridge,  and  then  a  passage,  15  feet  long,  once  ending  in  a 
portcullis  and  gate,  then  a  further  17  feet  abutting  on  a  grand  Decor.ited  doorway 
in  front  oi  the  original  Norman  entrance  in  a  plain  square  towei.     The  wafer- 


212  CASTLES   OF    ENGLAND 

gate  is  Koiniui,  altered  in  tlic  Decorated  period,  and  in  tlie  landward  entrance  the 
Roman  work  has  been  displaced  by  Decorated  and  Early  Perpendicular  work. 
There  is  in  it  a  well-fortitied  upper  chamber  which  is  vaulted. 

Porchester,  with  a  very  great  deal  of  the  lands  in  the  neighbourhood,  now 
belongs  to  the  Thistlethwayte  family. 

SOUTHAMPTON   {mn-cxistcnt) 

AT  the  head  of  the  estuary  named  Southampton  Water,  two  tributaries,  the 
Test,  or  Anton,  and  the  Itchen,  flow  into  its  tidal  waters,  leaving  a  flat 
neck  of  land  between  them,  which  was  in  early  ages  occupied  as  a  stronghold, 
being  defended  on  three  sides  by  water.  Here  arose  a  Saxon  town,  the  port 
of  Winchester,  with  which  city  it  was  connected  by  a  Roman  road.  South- 
ampton, Stukeley  wrote,  "was  a  great  seaport,  and  had  the  sole  privilege  by 
charter  of  importing  wine  from  France,  till  they  foolishly  sold  it  to  the  City  of 
London."  It  was  not  only  the  chief  port  for  the  trade  with  Venice  and  the  East, 
but  from  its  contiguity  to  the  N.W.  coast  of  Normandy,  was  used  as  the  point 
of  departure  for  the  great  war  expeditions  into  France  of  our  Plantagenet  kings, 
which  entailed  the  collection  there  of  warlike  stores  and  provisions  for  the  armies. 
Thus  a  strong  citadel  was  a  necessity,  as  a  support  to  the  well-walled  town, 
which  enclosed  a  rectangular  space,  with  a  circuit  of  ij  miles.  In  its  N.W.  corner 
"  was  a  strong  castle  with  a  mount,  wall'd  about  at  top  as  a  keep.  Upon  this  a 
round  stone  tower  with  a  winding  ascent."  The  high  ground  where  this  castle 
was  placed  was  scarped  for  the  defence  of  the  place,  a  ditch  being  cut  in  the 
centre  of  the  area,  and  the  earth  formed  into  a  mound  for  a  timber  fortress,  of 
Saxon  or  Danish  times,  45  feet  in  diameter.  Here  the  Norman  keep  was 
afterwards  built,  of  which  Leland  speaks  as  "  the  glory  of  the  castle,  both  large 
and  fair  and  very  strong,  both  by  works  and  by  the  site  of  it."  A  part  of  the 
curved  wall  of  the  enceinte  remains  to  the  N.,  built  on  piers  and  arches  that 
were  continued  up  the  mound  to  the  keep  (as  at  Rockingham,  Northants,  and 
other  places)  from  the  S.  gate,  which,  together  with  the  main  gate  of  the 
castle,  was  removed  at  the  end  of  the  last  century.  Near  the  castle  is  a  large 
subterranean  vault  (now  closed),  possibly  an  early  storehouse  for  wine.  The 
surrounding  wall,  built  on  arches  (perhaps  temp.  Henry  1.),  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  town,  and  it  is  likely  that  a  "shell,"  or  annular  keep,  was  placed  on  the 
mound.     (Clark.) 

Mounting  from  the  town  wall  running  by  the  shore,  which  defended  the  castle 
seawards,  we  arrive  at  the  site  of  this  old  fortress,  upon  the  platform  of  which  are 
seen  remains  of  masonry,  including  some  interesting,  but  much  misused.  Early 
English  arches  of  the  twelfth  century. 

In  1 153  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  pledged  himself  to  give  up  this  place,  on  the 
death  of  Stephen,  to  Prince  Henry,  son  of  the  Empress  Maud.     Part  of  the  fleet 


HAMPSHIRK 


213 


of  Richard  I.  asscmblL-d  at  Southampton  for  the  Crusade,  and  tlie  Kin^  himself 
sailed  from  hence.  Ancient  accounts  tell  that  on  this  occasion  the  sheriff  liad  to 
furnish  10,000  horseshoes  with  double  sets  of  nails,  and  800  Hampshire  hojtis  f<jr 
the  fleet. 

Royal  visits  being  frequent,  and  the  accommodation  in  the  castle  limited,  a 
dwelling  called  the  King's  house  was  built,  facing  the  quay  (probably  temp. 
Henry  II.),  part  of  which  is  still  visible. 

As  custodians  of  the  castle  in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century  we  find 
men  of  note,  as  Adam  de  Port,  father  of  William  St.  John  {sec  B.vsixo  HoiSE)  ; 
but  it  is  possible  that  it  was  from  the  King's  house,  rather  than  from  the  castle 
itNcll,  that  Edward  111.  and  Henry  \'.  started  before  Crevy  and  Agincourt.  W'e 
liiid,  iiuiecd,  lliat  the  castle  had  fallen  into  neglect  and  was  in  a  ruinous  state  by 
the  end  o(  the  thirteenth  century,  for  the  townsmen  had  sold  some  of  its  materials, 
timber  and  lead,  and  its  stores,  and  appropriated  its  dues,  so  that  in  1338  it  was 
unable  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  French.  However,  in  1377,  when  at  their  ne.xt 
invasion  tlu-  l*rencli  were  beaten  off  by  Sir  Jnlin  Aiiiiidel,  the  castle  was  repaired 
and  reconstructed.  The  remains  of  an  old  t<nver  are  still  called  by  the  name  of 
this  governor  of  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 

The  castle  wall  ran  roimd  the  mound  to  the  S.W.  corner  of  the  castle,  where  it 
bent  northward,  crossing  the  postern  entrance,  and  then,  turning  E.,  led  back, 
having  here  a  mural  tower,  to  meet  the  X.  wall  at  the  X.W.  tower,  and  so  011  to 
the  town  walls.  It  has  all  been  a  ruin  for  300  years,  yet  men  living  not  long  ago 
remembered  the  round  donjon  tower.  When  the  castle  belonged  to  Lord  Stafford 
he  pulled  down  the  tnwer  on  the  keep  and  built  there  a  banqueting-room,  which, 
with  the  ruin,  was  bought  in  1804  by  Eord  Wycombe  ;  but  about  181 5  the  whole 
of  the  building  was  taken  down,  and  in  1823  a  Zion  chapel  erected  on  the  site. 


SOUTHSEA   (>,nnor) 

SOUTHSEA  is  one  of  tiie  largest  of  Henry  VIII.  s  "  blockhouse  "  forts  which 
were  erected  on  the  southern  coasts  about  1338-40,  with  the  forts  of  Hurst, 
Calshot,  Deal,  Sandown,  Portland,  and  others,  when  he  was  expecting  invasion  by 
the  Catholic  Powers  ;  it  defends  the  entrance  to  Portsmouth  Harbour,  and  has 
been  in  latter  times  converted  into  a  strong  work.  The  common  in  rear  ol  it  was 
the  usual  camping  ground  lor  troops  forming  the  English  armies  of  the  Henrys 
and  P>dwards,  and  many  expeditions  in  those  times  were  mustered  and  disciplined 
on  that  ground. 

Edward  V  I.  stayed  a  night  ui  tins  tort  in  1552.  In  Elizabeth's  reign  its  garrison 
consisted  of  two  ofticers  and  a  master  gunner,  two  "porters,"  eleven  giuuiers,  .uid 
eleven  soldiers. 

Its  capture   in   1642  by  a  party  of   Parliament.iry  troops  is  thus  recorded  in 


214  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  l';iili;ini(.Mitai-y  Chronicle:  "On  S;itiiid;iy,  September  and,  in  the  night,  the 
Pari,  forces  took  Sousey  Castle,  which  lyes  a  mile  from  the  town  upon  the 
sea  sands.  The  captain  of  the  castle's  name  was  Challiner,  who  on  Saturday  had 
been  to  Portsmouth,  and  in  tlio  cvL-ning  went  home  to  the  castle,  and  his  soldiers 
took  horse-loads  of  provisions,  biscuits,  meal,  and  other  necessaries  for  them.  They 
reported  that  he  had  more  drink  in  his  head  than  befitted.  The  taking  was  thus: 
Here  were  about  eighty  musqueteers  and  others,  that  came  by  night  to  the  walls 
of  the  castle,  and  under  their  ordnance,  and  had  with  them  a  very  good  engineer, 
and  thirty-live  scaling  ladders;  and  the  whole  company  of  the  castle  were  but 
twelve  of^cers,  whereof  ours  having  suddenly  and  silently  scaled  the  walls,  called 
unto  them  and  advised  them  what  to  do,  shewing  the  advantage  they  had  over 
them,  and  therefore  their  danger  if  they  resisted  ;  who  seeing  the  same,  immediately 
yielded  the  castle  to  us,  whereof  our  triumph  in  taking  it  was  plainly  heard  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning  into  the  town  ;  and  as  soon  as  they  were  masters  of  the 
castle,  they  discharged  two  pieces  of  the  castle  ordnance  against  the  town.  The 
town  of  Portsmouth  capitulated  the  next  day."  In  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  this 
place  was  surrounded  by  a  star  fort,  and  was  frequently  used  as  a  State  prison.  In 
1760  a  great  portion  was  destroyed  by  an  accidental  explosion  of  powder.  In  1814 
the  castle  was  made  into  a  modern  fortress,  with  proper  batteries,  and  covered 
ways,  ditch,  glacis  and  armament. 

WINCHESTER  (mtt-existent) 

WINCHESTER  was  the  capital  of  Wessex,  and  increased  in  importance  as 
that  kingdom  predominated  in  the  country  ;  it  was  the  seat  of  government 
in  the  times  of  Alfred,  Edgar,  and  Canute,  but  nothing  is  known  of  its  fortifications 
in  those  days.  After  the  Conquest  a  Norman  castle  arose  here  at  the  bidding  of 
William,  the  building  of  which  was  entrusted  to  FitzOsborne  at  the  same  period 
that  the  Tower  of  London  was  in  progress.  (Moody.)  It  was  built  on  the  slope 
of  the  hill  that  commands  the  town,  being  separated  from  the  high  ground  on 
the  \V.  by  a  ditch,  deep  enough  to  be  filled  from  the  river.  This  fortress  was 
strengthened  by  Stephen,  in  the  second  year  of  whose  reign  a  synod  of  prelates  was 
held  at  Winchester  to  protest  against  the  seizure  by  the  King  of  so  many  castles  in 
the  country.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester,  Henry  de  Blois,  the  King's  brother,  who 
owned  the  castles  of  Wolvesey,  Merdon,  Downton  (Wilts),  Bishop's  Waltham,  and 
Taunton  in  Somerset,  was  one  of  the  aggrieved,  and  headed  a  deputation  to  Stephen 
in  this  castle  to  remonstrate,  but  the  King  would  not  receive  them  and  left  for 
London.  At  that  time,  however,  the  Empress  Maud  landed  in  Sussex  to  claim  the 
crown,  antl  with  the  aid  of  these  angry  bishops,  and  some  disaffected  barons,  she 
defeated  her  rival,  and  made  him  prisoner.  The  following  year  Bishop  de  Blois 
joined  his  brother,  and  attacked  the  forces  of  Maud  who  had  occupied  the  castle, 
and  closely  invested  the  fortress,  which  was  in   want  of  stores  and  provisions. 


HAMPSHIRE  215 

N(j\v  occurred  the  story  of  the  escape  of  the  Empress  through  the  hostile  hnes 
ill  a  lead  coffin,  her  death  haviiij^  been  declared  to  Stephen  ;  but  the  same  ruse  is 
allef^ed  to  have  been  successful  also  at  anotiier  castle,  and  the  truth  really  is  that 
Maud  was  rescued  from  Wincliester  by  lier  natural  brother  and  jjallaiit  champion, 
Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who  came  to  her  assistance  with  sixty  followers. 

Henry  II.  is  said  to  have  had  a  house  in  the  N.W.  corner  <jf  the  town, 
where  still  are  some  traces  of  the  town  walls  and  ditch,  but  nothing  more  of 
interest.  Winchester  was  frequented  by  all  the  succeeding  kings  until  the  time  of 
Edward  I.,  and  the  castle  was  commonly  called  the  King's  House.  Henry  111. 
was  born  here  in  1206,  being  called  Henry  of  Winchester  in  consequence.  He 
built  and  rebuilt  a  great  part  of  the  castle,  including  the  Great  Hall,  which  still 
remains  in  perfect  preservation  as  St.  Stephen's  Hall,  or  the  present  Court  House. 
The  Liberate  Rolls  of  this  reign  contain  details  of  much  work  ordered  here,  the 
sheriff  of  Southampton  being  directed  in  1257  to  pull  down  and  rebuild  the  great 
tower  of  the  castle  which  "threatened  to  fall."  In  1265  (July  14)  Wnichester 
and  its  castle  were  taken  and  sacked  by  young  Simon  de  Montfort,  second  son  of 
the  great  Earl  of  Leicester,  three  weeks  before  the  battle  of  Evesham.  He  seems 
to  have  gone  to  Winchester  from  Pevensey  in  Sussex,  whence  he  had  been 
sununonctl  to  Kenilworth  in  haste  to  suppoi  t  his  father,  and  it  is  ditlicult  to  see  why 
he  shoulii  have  gone  so  far  out  of  his  direct  route  as  Winchester.  It  is  asserted 
that  the  place  never  recovered  from  this  violence.  In  an  old  seventeenth- 
century  drawing  the  castle  is  sliown  as  a  quadrangular  enclosure,  having  a  large 
donjon,  or  keep,  one  hundred  feet  siiuare,  at  the  north-east  corner,  and  square 
li.uikiiig  towers  at  tlic  otiier  tliiee  ;  the  eiitiance  gateway  is  on  tlie  W.,  having  a 
circular  tower  on  each  side.  The  approach  to  it  was  by  a  drawbridge  over  the 
ditch,  as  is  mentioned  in  the  Liberate  Roll  of  23  Henry  111.  (1238).  At  the 
end  of  the  reign  of  John  tiie  castle  was  captured  by  the  French  army  under  the 
Dauphin,  .\ttcrwards  it  was  used  as  a  State  prison  and  tor  tlie  Assizes,  though 
always  occupied  as  a  royal  palace  whenever  the  Sovereign  came  to  Winchester. 
It  was  here  that  Henry  III.  imprisoned  a  whole  jury  in  a  dungeon  below  the  castle 
on  their  refusal  to  convict  certain  persons  whom  he  thought  guilty  of  committing 
depredations  in  tlie  neighbourhood.  James  I.  presented  the  palace  in  fee  simple 
to  Sir  Benjamin  Tichborne  and  his  heirs,  as  a  reward  for  proclaiming  him  King 
in  England.  In  the  Civil  War  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  the  castle  was  strongly 
garrisoned  for  the  Crown  under  Lord  Ogle  the  governor,  and  was  one  of  the 
places  appointed  to  be  reduced  aftei'  the  fall  of  Bristol,  together  with  Devizes, 
Basing,  Wallingford,  and  other  garrisons,  which  Sprigg  in  his  ".Anglia  Rediviva  " 
calls  "vipers  in  the  bowels"  of  the  coimtry,  inasmuch  as  they  hindered  the  trade 
of  the  west  of  England  with  London.  Accordingly  the  Lieutenant-General 
Cromwell,  with  a  brigade  consisting  of  the  regiments  of  Colonels  Montague, 
Pickering,  Hammond,  and  Sir  Hardress  Waller,  and  three  regiments  of  horse,  after 
taking  Devizes,  was  sent  on  to  Winchester,  where  he  arrived   Septeml>er   iS,  1O45. 


2i6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Cromwell,  in  his  despatch  to  Parliament,  states  tliat,  his  summons  to  the  garrison  to 
surrender  being  refused,  he  prepared  his  batteries,  and  on  Friday,  October  3, 
opened  fire  on  the  castle  with  six  guns,  after  firing  a  round  from  which,  he  sent  a 
second  summons,  which  also  being  refused,  "we  went  on  with  our  work,  and 
made  a  breach  in  the  wall  near  the  black  tcnver,  which,  after  about  two  hundred 
shot,  we  thought  stormable,  and  purposed  on  Monday  morning  to  attempt  it."  On 
Sunday  night,  however,  the  governor  "  beat  a  parley,"  and  the  place  was  given  up, 
with  a  loss'  to  the  besiegers  of  under  twelve  men.  "The  castle  was  well  manned 
with  680  horse  and  foot,  there  being  near  200  gentlemen,  officers  and  their  servants; 
well  victualled  with  15,000  weight  of  cheese,  very  great  store  of  wheat  and  beer, 
near  twenty  barrels  of  powder,  seven  pieces  of  cannon  ;  the  works  were  exceeding 
"ood  and  strong."  Hugh  Peters,  in  his  report  to  the  House,  says  the  breach 
made  was  big  enough  to  admit  thirty  men  abreast  :  that  the  garrison  sallied  out 
and  beat  their  besiegers  from  their  guns  at  first,  but  on  the  batteries  being  recovered 
"  we  played  our  gravadoes  (shells)  from  our  mortar-pieces,  with  the  best  effect  I 
have  seen,  which  brake  down  the  mansion  house  in  many  places,  and  at  last  blew 
their  flag  of  defiance  into  the  air,  and  tore  the  pinnacle  in  pieces  upon  which  it 

stood The  Lord's  day  we  spent  in  preaching  and  prayer,  whilst  our  gunners 

were  battering,  and  at  eight  o'clock  at  night  we  received  a  letter  from  the  governor 

for  a  treaty When  we  entered  we  had  six  distinct  works  and  a  drawbridge 

to  pass  through,  so  that  it  was  doubtless  a  very  strong  piece,  and  well  appointed." 
Then  by  order  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee  the  old  castle  was  "  slighted  "  and 
demolished,  though  not  entirely,  as  it  was  given  to  Sir  William  Waller,  who  was 
brother-in-law  to  Tichborne,  as  a  reward  for  his  previous  capture  of  the  city.  The 
remains  of  the  fortress  were  swept  away  by  Charles  II.  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren. 
Some  old  subterranean  vaulted  passages  and  a  postern  were  discovered  fifty  years 
ago,  and  a  sallyport  was  opened  up,  which  is  an  interesting  specimen  of  thirteenth- 
century  work. 

The  onlv  complete  portion  of  the  castle  remaining  is  the  Great  Hall,  built 
very  early  in  the  thirteenth  century  (Parker),  and  completed  in  1236  ;  it  is  iii  feet 
long  by  55  feet  wide,  and  is  divided  bv  piers  and  stone  arches,  into  nave  and  two 
aisles,  like  a  church,  similar  to  the  designs  of  the  halls  of  Oakham,  in  Rutland, 
and  Kotheringhay,  and  some  other  Xorman  structures.  Full  details  of  this  fine 
building  are  given  in  the  "Proceedings"  of  the  Arch;eol()gical  Institute  at  Win- 
chester, in  1H45.  The  roof  dates  from  the  reign  of  Edward  \\\  An  interesting 
relic  is  to  be  seen  here,  hung  up  over  the  judges'  seat  in  the  Nisi  Prius  Court,  a 
table  which  is  called  the  Round  Table  of  King  Arthur,  and  of  which  there  are 
records  early  in  the  sixteenth  century.  It  is  18  feet  in  diameter  and  painted  in  radii 
with  twenty-four  divisions,  each  lettered  with  the  name  of  one  of  Arthur's  knights. 
On  the  space  in  front  of  the  old  castle,  in  1330,  was  beheaded  Edmund,  Earl 
of  Kent,  the  brother  of  Edward  II.,  on  account  of  a  pretended  conspiracy, 
invented  by  Mortimer,  whose  own  fate  followed  six  months  after.     The  earl  was 


HAMPSHIRE  217 

kept  waiting  the  whole  clay  before  an  executioner  could  he   found  to  behead 
him. 

On  the  site  of  the  castle,  and  probably  with  tlie  materials  beltjnging  to  it, 
Charles  II.  began  in  1683  the  building  of  an  immense  palace,  from  the  designs 
(.1  Wren  ;  tiie  centre  of  the  structure  coincides  witii  the  centre  line  of  the  cathedral 
in  front,  prolonged  to  the  Castle  Hill.  The  design  of  the  too  Merry  Monarch  was 
to  open  from  it  to  the  cathedral,  through  the  heart  of  the  town,  a  broad  street  (for 
which  the  land  was  bought)  in  which,  in  special  houses,  were  to  be  lodged  his 
great  officers  and  tlie  nobles  and  ladies  of  the  Court.  Marble  columns  for  the 
palace  were  presented  to  him  by  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  and  it  was  intended 
to  rear  a  cupola  which  might  be  visible  from  the  sea,  twenty-five  nules  off. 
On  the  death  of  the  King,  when  the  building  was  only  a  shell,  the  scheme 
dropped,  ,md  the  place  being  fitted  up  was  used,  in  1779,  to  house  French, 
Spanish,  and  Dutch  prisoners.  Then,  in  1792,  George  III.  gave  the  use  of  it  to 
the  emigrant  French  clergy,  who  lived  tiiere  for  four  years,  and  in  181 1  it  was 
turned  into  barracks,  which  purpose  tiie  building  still  fulfils.  It  received  great 
injurv  from  a  lire  which  occurred  in  1895. 

WOI.VESKV  (whior) 

OX  the  E.  of  the  cathedral  of  Winchester  are  the  ruins  of  the  noble 
episcopal  palace  of  this  name,  which  was  built  as  a  strong  castle  by  the 
warlike  Bishop,  Henry  de  Hlois,  brother  of  King  Stephen,  in  1138.  It  extended 
to  the  limits  of  the  city  in  that  quarter,  close  to  the  branch  of  the  river  which 
skirted  it,  and  the  tiiickness  of  the  outer  walls  seems  to  show  that  they 
formed  also  the  city's  protection  here,  before  the  erection  of  the  later  boundary 
walls.  The  walls  of  the  keep  and  a  great  portion  of  those  of  the  enceinte  are 
still  nearly  perfect,  and  are  of  good  Norman  work.  The  interior  is  a  ruin,  but  .1 
considerable  part  of  the  partition  walls  and  part  of  the  refectory  remain,  and 
contain  a  fine  Xorman  arch  and  window.  Little  can  be  made  out  of  the 
Perpendicular  chapel,  built  iiy  Bishop  Langton  ;  the  F.  and  S.  side  remain, 
and  the  W.  end  joins  the  modern  palace.  The  greater  part  of  the  present 
buildings  were  erected  by  Bishop  Morley.  The  name  is  derived  perhaps  from  that 
of  some  Saxon  lord  of  the  "  ey,"  or  island,  formed  once  by  the  river,  though  the 
conunon  origin  is  alleged  to  be  the  tribute  of  wolves'  heads  exacted  hereby  Edgar. 
As  a  castle  it  was  besieged  by  Rolvrt,  Earl  of  Glo'ster,  in  the  cause  of 
his  hall-sistcr  the  Empress  Maud,  but,  with  his  ally  David,  King  of  Scotland, 
he  was  forced  to  retire  from  its  walls.  When  Henry  II.  set  about  the  destruc- 
tion of  all  the  castles  he  could  put  an  end  to  in  the  kingdom,  he  dismantled 
W.ilvescy,  but  still  it  remained  "  a  castelle  well  tourid  "  until  the  days  of  Cromwell  ; 
for  although  these  princely  prelates  possessed  many  other  grand  houses,  the 
revenues  of  the  See  sufficed  to  keep  up  their  fabrics,  which  did  not  always  hapix-n 
VOL.  I.  2  E 


2i8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

with  tlic  ordinary  proprietors  of  sucli  costly  buildings.  It  was  here  that  Queen 
Maryiirst  welcomed  her  husband,  Philip  of  Spain,  and  here  the  marriage  festivities 
and  dances  took  place  after  that  grim  bridal. 

When  Sir  William  Waller  took  Winchester  in  1644,  all  but  the  chapel  was 
disinantled  :  twenty  years  later  Bishop  Worley  erected  a  new  palace  on  the 
site,  which  was  pulled  down  by  Bishop  North  at  the  end  of  the  last  century,  its 
materials  bein^  sold  to  a  builder. 


WOODWARD   {non-existent) 

WOODWARD  was  built  with  stone  from  Beaulieu  Abbey  about  1550,  the  first 
captain  of  this  castle  being  Thomas  Bertie  of  Bersted,  grandfather  of 
Peregrine  Bersted,  eleventh  Baron  Willoughby  d'Eresby  :  its  armament  is  stated 
to  have  consisted  of  "a  curtell  cannon  of  brass,  one;  and  castell  cannon  shot 
of  six  inches  and  a  quarter,  thirty-five  ; "  that  is,  one  short  brass  gun  and  thirty- 
five  cannon-balls.  In  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  there  was  the  following 
description  of  the  place  :  "This  castle  stands  li  mile  on  sea,  upon  a  Beach  full  of 
mud  and  stinking  oaze  upon  low  Tides,  having  no  fresh  water  within  2  or  3  miles 
of  it ;  so  cold,  foggy,  and  noysome,  that  the  guards  cannot  endure  it  without 
shifting  quarters." 

YARMOUTH    {minor) 

THIS  fort  lies  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  at  the  end  of  the  estuary  of  the  little  Yar 
river.  The  town  was  burnt  by  the  French  in  1337,  and  again  in  1354,  and 
after  the  latter  event  Henry  VIII.  erected  at  the  E.  extremity  of  the  harbour  a 
small  blockhouse,  or  round  fort,  upon  the  site,  as  is  alleged,  of  a  church.  It  had 
a  platform  for  eight  guns,  and  houses  for  a  garrison  ;  it  has  been  thoroughly 
repaired  of  late  vears. 


Miltsbivc 


C  A  L  X  E   {iton-cxislcnt) 

THE  town  of  C;ilne  is  an  anciL-nt  one,  liavinfj  a  charter  of  the  time  of 
Steplien.  Here  was  a  castle,  of  wliicli  little  is  known  ;  it  was  probably 
one  of  the  Stephanie  fortresses,  cleared  away  in  more  peaceable  times. 
No  trace  whatever  exists  of  it,  Init  there  is  a  modern  house  built 
upon  lis  supposed  site,  which  is  called  the  Castle  House.  Canon  Jackson 
suggests  tiiat  the  following  entry  in  the  Chronicle  called  "  Gesta  Stephani  "  may 
apply  to  it:  "A.D.  1139.  King  Stephen  having  blockaded  Wallingford  marched 
towards  Trowbridge.  In  his  way  he  took  by  assault  the  cattle  of  Cerne  (sic), 
which  Miio  of  Ghj'ster,  the  Karl  of  Hertford,  liad  built  to  encourage  the  insur- 
rection in  favour  of  the  Empress  Maud." 


CASTLE   COMBE   {mnor) 

THE  remains  of  this  castle  lie  si.\  miles  to  the  X.W.  of  Chippenham,  on  the 
brow  of  a  steep  hill    jutting  out  in  a  narrow  valley,  overlooking  the  Box 
Brook  and  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  small  market  town  of  Combe.     The 


220 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


castle  was  built  within  the  strong  defences  of  what  seems  to  be  an  ancient  British 
entrenched  camp,  placed  on  a  tongue-shaped  hill  sloping  down  abruptly  on 
three  sides,  the  fourth  joining  the  flat  but  high  level  of  the  surrounding  country. 
The  enclosure  occupies,  in  a  long  oval  trace,  about  eight  acres,  and  is  surrounded 
by  a  deep  ditch  and  rampart.  Three  cross  trenches  divide  the  area  into  four 
unequal  compartments,  or  courts,  and  in  the  last  and  southernmost  of  these,  on  the 
verge  of  the  hill,  are  the  scanty  remains  of  Castle  Combe.  In  most  of  the  courts 
there  are  fragments  of  masonry,  the  last  two  having  been  surrounded  by  rude  walls, 
now  quite  ruined.  The  keep  itself,  which  appeared  a  mere  mound  covered  with 
wood,  was  cleared  some  years  ago,  and  the  two  lower  storeys  of  the  donjon 
are  now  seen  entire,  the  walls  being  lo  feet  thick,  and  the  lower  room  measuring 
i6  feet  by  12.  "The  fragments  of  carved  stonework  that  were  discovered  on  this 
occasion  exhibit  a  very  rude  style  of  Norman  architecture."    (Scrope.) 

The  place,  apart  from  its  castle,  obtains  additional  interest  from  having  been 
possessed  apparentlv  by  the  Danes  in  878  under  Guthrum  ;  the  great  battle  of 
Ethandun,  in  which  Alfred  defeated  them,  was  very  near,  and  the  routed  Danes 
filed  over  the  Castle  Combe  brook  at  a  place  still  called  "  Slaughterford."  It 
was  at  this  battle  that  the  Danish  standard  of  the  Raven  was  taken,  and  the 
"  castellum  "  mentioned  by  William  of  Worcester  is  possibly  this  old  entrenched 
camp,  which  may  have  sheltered  at  the  time  our  great  Saxon  monarch. 

The  manor  at  the  Domesday  Survey  belonged  to  the  Conqueror,  having  an 
extent  of  about  1000  acres  under  plough,  and  temp.  Stephen  it  was  held  by 
Reginald  de  Dunstanville,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  an  illegitimate  son  of  Henry  I.  and 
half-brother  to  the  great  Earl  Robert  of  Gloucester  and  the  Empress  Maud.  From 
him  it  went  to  his  son-in-law,  Walter  de  Dunstanville,  who  occupied  this  place 
during  the  life  of  the  Earl  of  Cornwall,  his  residence  being  in  his  own  earldom. 
The  Dunstanvilles  evidently  held  the  place  during  the  Civil  War  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury and  they  were  probably  the  builders  of  this  castle  (perhaps  Walter  was  the 
founder,  as  Camden  stales),  residing  there  for  several  generations.  Reginald,  called 
Baron  of  Castle  Combe,  died  in  1 156,  and  the  last  of  the  race,  Walter,  served 
Henry  III.  well  in  the  Welsh  wars,  but  fought  against  him  at  Lewes,  and  was 
appointed  by  the  Barons  Constable  of  Salisbury  in  1265.  He  died  1270, 
leaving  a  daughter,  Petronilla,  wife  of  Sir  Robert  de  Montfort,  one  of  the  two 
sons  of  Sir  Peter  de  Montfort,  who  were  all  staunch  supporters  of  the  cause  of 
the  Barons  and  of  their  kinsman  the  great  Earl  of  Leicester.  De  Montfort 
became  thus  in  his  wife's  right  Baron  of  Castle  Combe,  and  after  his  death  she 
brought  it  to  her  second  husband.  Sir  John  de  la  Mare,  who  also  held  this  castle 
and  manor,  so  that  Petronilla's  only  son,  William  de  Montfort,  under  pressure 
for  sustenance  perhaps,  sold  his  reversion  to  Castle  Combe  to  Bartholomew,  "  the 
rich  lord  "  Badlesmere  ot  Leeds  Castle,  Kent,  for  £1000  (say  ;^"20,ooo  of  our 
money).  This  lord,  after  ser\ing  Edward  1.  in  the  Gascon  and  Flemish  wars, 
was  created  baron   ui  13 10  by  Edward  t)f  Carnarvon,  and  much  employed  by 


WILTSHIRE  221 

him,  aiul  he  received  j^rants  of  Chilham,  Kent,  and  Leeds.  He  f(nif,'lit  at 
Bannockburn  afterwards,  where  his  nephew,  Gilbert,  P2arl  of  Clare,  was  killed, 
and  had  commands  on  the  Scots  and  Welsh  marches.  He  however,  opposed  the 
King  in  acting  against  the  Despensers  in  1321,  when  the  great  barons  of  the  realm, 
headed  by  the  Earl  of  Lancaster,  took  up  arms  against  Edward;  Badlesmere 
marching  with  his  men  from  Leeds  to  Oxford  on  his  way  to  join  Lancaster. 
Then  occurred  the  incident  told  in  the  memoir  of  Leeds,  or  Ledes,  Castle  ;  when 
the  King,  desirous  of  seizing  this  place  in  its  owner's  absence,  arranged  the  visit 
there  of  Queen  Isabella,  under  cover  of  a  Canterbury  pilgrimage,  and  took  the 
castle  with  his  army.  Badlesmere  failing  to  relieve  that  fortress  betook  himself  to 
the  north  to  join  the  disaffected  Barons,  but  in  March  1322  they  were  defeated 
by  the  Royal  forces  under  Sir  Andrew  Harclay  at  Boroughbridge,  after  which 
the  Earl  of  Lancaster  and  eighteen  lords  were  executed  at  Pontefract.  Lord 
Badlesmere  escaped  to  Leeds,  but  was  taken,  and  sentenced  at  Canterbury,  the 
next  month,  "  to  be  drawn  for  his  treason,  hanged  for  his  robberies,  and  beheaded 
for  his  flight  :"  his  head  to  be  spiked  on  Canterbury  gate  as  a  warning.  All  this 
was  done  and  his  property  confiscated.  His  estates,  including  Castle  Combe,  were 
then  confened  first  on  Hugh  Despenser  the  elder,  but  on  Despenser's  destruction 
at  Bristol  in  1326,  Lady  Badlesmere  received  Combe  and  the  rest  back.  She  was 
the  elder  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Thomas  de  Clare,  brother  of  Gilbert,  Earl  of 
Clare,  Gloucester,  Hertford  and  Pembroke,  and  many  other  earldoms  {sec  Tox- 
HKIDUE).  Herson  Gilbert  died  early,  .<./>.,  and  his  lands  passed  to  his  four 
sisters  ;  Castle  Combe  with  other  lands  went  to  the  yijungest,  Margaret,  wife  of 
John  de  Tibetot,  or  Tiptoft,  of  I^angar,  Notts,  whose  son  Robert  dying  1375  left 
the  propeity  to  his  three  inlant  (laughters,  co-heirs,  when  they  were  placed  by 
King  Edward  Ml.  unckr  tiie  wardship  of  Sir  I^icliard  Scrope,  Lord  of  Bolton, 
Yorks  ((/.;'.). 

Sir  Richard  in  time  married  two  of  the  girls  to  his  own  second  and  third  sons, 
the  latter,  Sir  Stephen,  mari-ying  Millicent  Tiptoft  and  obtaining  Castle  Combe  ; 
and  this  property  remains  in  the  Scrope  family  to  the  present  day  (after  500  years), 
their  manor-house  being  situated  in  the  vallcv. 

The  widow  Millicent,  in  i4o<),  married  secondly  the  famous  Sir  John  P'astolf, 
of  Caister,  Norfolk  {sec  Fenn's  "  Paston  Letters  "),  who  is  assumed,  undeservedly  in 
many  respects,  to  be  the  original  of  Shakespeare's  P'alstatY.  Sir  John,  having  thus 
obtained  a  good  settlement  in  Castle  Combe,  continued  to  possess  himself  of  this 
property  and  the  rest  during  his  life,  till  i4'^>9,  to  the  displacement  and  injury  of 
the  heir,  Stephen  Scrope,  who  was  thus  kept  out  for  sixty-one  years.  He  complains 
in  bitter  terms  of  his  stepfather's  treatment  of  him  in  papers  preserved  at  Castle 
Combe. 

The  old  castle  was  neglected  by  the  Badlesmeres  and  Tiptofts,  and  fell  into 
disrepair.  Indeed,  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  it  was  dismantled  and  in 
ruins,  and  is  mentioned  bv  William  of  Worcester,    writing  then,  as  one  of  the 


222  CASTLES   OF    ENGLAND 

"  aislclhi  ilinilii  "  of  Wilts.      Tlic  keep  towcT,  liowever,  remained  tolerably  perfect 
up  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

A  rough  tower,  built  on  the  site  to  mark  the  position  of  the  former  castle, 
shows  well  above  the  woods  on  the  hill. 

CASTLE  EATON,  or  CRICKLADE  («o«-«7s/«//) 

IT  is  stated  in  the  chronicle  called  the  "  Gesta  Stephani  "  that  "  in  1 14:2,  William 
of  Dover,  a  skilful  soldier,  and  an  active  partisan  of  the  Earl  of  Gloucester, 
took  possession  of  Cricklade,  a  village  delightfully  situated  in  a  rich  and  fertile 
neighbourhood.  He  built  a  castle  for  himself  with  great  diligence  on  a  spot 
which,  being  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  waters  and  marshes,  was  very  inacces- 
sible." This  agrees  with  the  local  topography  pretty  well,  but  whereabouts  the 
castle  stood  is  not  clear.  It  may  have  been  at  Castle  Eaton,  not  very  far  off,  and 
as  Eaton  means  the  enclosure  within  waters,  that  site  would  answer  the  descrip- 
tion. In  Leland's  time  some  remains  of  Castle  Eaton  were  still  standing.  (Canon 
Jackson.) 

CLARENDON  PALACE  (mimr) 

ABOUT  two  miles  S.E.  of  Salisbury  are  the  scanty  remains  of  this  ancient 
residence  of  our  kings.  Its  origin  is  uncertain,  but  the  ancient  forest  of 
Chlorcndon  was  granted  by  the  Conqueror  to  Humphrey  de  Bohun,  the  first  of 
that  family.  Its  palace,  which  Stukeley  says  was  built  by  King  John,  was 
inhabited  by  all  Sovereigns,  and  was  certainly  royal  property,  from  Henry  I.  to 
Edward  III. 

Here  was  held  bv  Henry  II.,  in  1164,  a  famous  council,  at  which  certain  laws 
were  passed,  called  "  The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon,"  affecting  the  clergy.  Henry, 
alarmed  at  the  pretensions  of  Becket,  sought  to  settle  thus  the  points  in  contest 
between  Church  and  Crown,  which  were  chiefly  on  the  subject  of  the  trial  of 
ecclesiastics  charged  with  civil  offences  ;  and  the  refusal  of  the  archbishop  to  seal 
these  new  laws  provoked  the  King's  indignation  against  him  to  an  extent  that  led 
eventually  to  his  murder  {sec  Saltwood,  Kent).  John  lived  and  hunted  here 
frequently  ;  but  it  was  to  his  son,  Henry  III.,  that  the  extension  and  refinement  of 
the  buildings  were  due,  as  is  shown  by  the  Liberate  Rolls  of  that  reign.  In  1237 
large  repairs  were  ordered  to  be  executed  by  the  sheriff  of  Wiltshire  to  the  King's 
great  chamber  and  the  "  new  chapel  beside  it,"  and  to  the  kitchen,  buttery,  and 
sewery ;  also  chimneys  added  to  the  private  rooms,  and  garderobes,  with  a  machine 
for  drawing  water  "at  our  well."  And  from  that  year  till  1269  constant  repairs 
and  alterations  are  ordered,  the  works  generally  being  for  the  increased  comfort  of 
the  royal  family.  At  one  time  a  new  kitchen  is  built,  40  feet  square,  with  a 
cloister  before  it ;  then  new  stables  and  harness-rooms,  ovens,  and  a  new  house  for 


WILTSHIRE  223 

the  (.luiplains.  In  1268  ";i  good  and  strong  prison"  is  added;  and  in  tlic 
following  year  repairs  are  given  to  the  "aisles"  of  the  liall,  showing  that  this  was 
built  church  fashion,  like  the  halls  at  W'incliester,  Oakiiam,  Fotheringhay,  and 
other  places.  Glass,  which  was  already  in  the  cliapel  windows,  was  now  intro- 
duced into  the  Queen's  private  rooms.  Thus  Henry  was  able  to  hold  his  Court 
herewith  greater  splendour  than  any  of  liis  predecessors.  In  1317,  Edward  II. 
summoned  a  Parliament  to  meet  here,  but  on  acc<junt  of  dissensions  it  never 
assembled. 

When  the  plague  was  ravaging  London  and  other  towns  in  1357,  Edward  ill. 
came  to  this  place,  accompanied  by  the  two  captive  Kings  of  France  and  Scotland  ; 
and  here  they  passed  the  summer  months  hunting  and  hawking  together. 

Philip  of  Xavarre  came  hither,  and  did  homage  to  Edward  III.  as  King  of 
France  and  Duke  of  Normandy. 

After  tiiis  reign  nothing  is  said  of  Clarendon,  as  Edward  had  now  provided 
a  magniticent  royal  dwelling  at  Windsor,  which  the  kings  after  him  preferred, 
though  they  came  to  Clarendon  at  times  to  hunt. 

Edward  VM.  granted  Clarendon  to  Sir  William  Herbert,  first  Earl  of  Pembroke, 
for  the  term  of  his  own  and  his  son's  life,  the  latter  dving  in  1601. 

There  is  an  account  of  a  fete  given  here  to  Queen  Elizabeth  in  Septembei'  1574, 
when  the  rain  spoiled  the  great  banquet  prepared  f(jr  her,  but  "in  the  afternoon 
many  deere  coursed  with  greyhounds  were  overturned. "  Charles  I.  mortgaged 
the  place  to  Chancellor  Hyde,  who,  believing  that  the  estate  would  be  his  own  in 
time,  took  the  title  of  his  peerage  from  it,  and  was  much  mortihed  when 
Charles  11.,  paying  off  the  mortgage,  presented  Clarendon  to  George  Monk,  Duke 
of  Albemarle,  whose  son  Christopher  bequeathed  it  to  his  cousin,  the  Earl  of 
Bath,  from  the  heirs  of  whom  it  was  purchased  in  1713  by  Henjamin  Bathhurst, 
an  ancestor  of  tlie  present  owner. 

Dr.  Stukeley  gives  a  sketch  of  tiie  very  scanty  remains  of  this  old  palace  of  the 
kings  as  in  the  year  1723,  when  they  consisted  of  little  more  than  a  few  founda- 
tions and  some  pieces  of  wall. 

Although  not  strictly  a  castle,  and  only  a  defensible  royal  residence,  notice  has 
been  taken  of  it  because  it  is  a  specimen  of  a  royal  palace,  of  the  composition  of 
which  we  have  some  evidence. 

DEVIZES  (uon-cxis/cnt) 

DI'A'IZES,  called  of  old  "the  Devizes,"  and  by  the  Romans  "  ad  Divisjus,"  is  a 
town  that  arose  in  later  times  round  a  castle  standing  on  a  kind  of 
promontory  in  the  Avon  valley,  strongly  defended  by  nature,  on  the  border  of 
a  territory  retained  by  the  Britons  till  653  ;  .ind  the  m.u \h  h.iving  this  Roman 
name,  the  castle  took  its  name  from  the  ilistrict.  At  the  tinte  that  this  N'orman 
fortress  was  erected  by  Bishop  Roger  Poor,  the  three  counties  of  Wilts,  Berks, 


224  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  Dorset,  forming  tlie  West  Saxon  kingdom,  were  under  one  bishop,  resident 
at  Sherborne  or  Ramsbury,  but  in  tlie  time  of  tiie  Conqueror  the  See  was  removed 
to  Old  Sarum,  of  which  place  Roger  Poor  was  tliird  bishop.  Nothing  authentic 
is  known  as  to  the  site  previous  to  the  time  of  Henry  1.,  but  the  vast  mound, 
encircled  by  its  mighty  ditch,  45  feet  deeper  than  the  present  level,  was  placed 
there  by  some  Saxon  or  Danish  chieftain,  and  doubtless  bore  the  timber 
dwellings  of  his  burh.  This  was  fixed  on  by  Bishop  Roger  for  his  great  work  ;  he 
crowned  the  earthwork,  perhaps  then  500  or  600  years  old,  witii  a  fabric  which  was 
said  to  be  unsurpassed  by  any  castle  in  Europe.  Prince  Henry  had  fallen  in  with 
this  priest  at  Vaucelles,  near  Caen.  When  passing  the  church  he  desired  to  hear 
Mass,  and  was  so  pleased  with  the  despatch  which  the  young  monk  observed  in  the 
service  that  he  made  him  his  chaplain,  and  linding  him  useful  when  he  came  to 
the  throne  as  Henrv  I.,  he  made  Roger  his  chancellor,  two  years  later  advancing 
him  to  flie  bishopric  of  Old  Sarum,  and  conferring  on  him  large  gifts  of  land. 
When  at  this  See,  Roger  surrounded  Old  Sarum  castle  with  a  wall,  and  after 
becoming  very  rich  he  devoted  himself  to  castle  building,  founding  one  at  Devizes, 
and  another  at  Sherborne ;  he  also  began  another  castle  at  Malmesbury.  "  The 
first  was  in  the  rich  form  of  style  of  which  its  founder  was  such  a  master,  between 
the  stern  simplicitv  of  the  Conqueror's  days  and  the  lavish  gorgeousness  of  the  days 
of  Henry  11."  (Freeman.)  It  was  a  place  of  inunense  strength,  and  of  the  costliest 
workmanship,  its  builder  being  anxious  that  it  should  be  beyond  compare  in  the 
kingdom.  Bishop  Roger's  fortress  was  then  an  immense  Norman  shell  keep, 
built  on  the  summit  of  the  mound,  round  which  ran  an  embattled  wall,  12  feet 
high,  Hanked  with  mural  towers  at  intervals  ;  outside  this  was  the  deep  ditch, 
crossed  by  a  drawbridge  which  was  protected  by  the  barbican  outside  the  moat. 
The  lower  storey  of  the  keep  was  used  as  a  State  prison,  and  the  next  above  for 
stores — as  was  usual,  being  dark  and  lighted  only  by  loops.  On  the  second  floor 
was  the  dwelling-place  of  the  garrison,  and  on  the  tliird  the  State  apartments 
of  the  governor,  while  the  topmost  was  devoted  to  the  sleeping  accommoda- 
tion of  his  family.  The  only  entrance  was  by  an  outside  staircase  to  the  second 
or  third  storey,  leading  through  a  small  tower  by  a  drawbridge  into  the  interior, 
and  undei'  a  portcullis  studded  with  iron  ;  about  the  middle  of  the  ascent  was 
a  strong  gate,  commanded  from  the  interior  and  from  above.  Outside  the  whole 
ran  an  outer  defence,  which  lay  along  the  W.  side  of  the  street  called  St.  John's. 
From  an  old  word  brctcsqiie,  signifying  a  wooden  staging  placed  over  the  draw- 
bridge at  the  entrance  of  a  castle,  the  town  of  Devizes  derives  the  name  of  one  of 
its  streets,  still  called  "  Brittox." 

In  1 106,  after  the  subjugation  of  Normandy,  Henry  I.  brought  his  captive  elder 
brother,  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  to  this  castle  and  placed  him  under  the 
bishop's  charge,  previous  to  inunuring  him  for  the  rest  of  his  life  in  Cardiff  Castle, 
where  he  died  after  a  captivity  of  twenty-eight  years.  Stephen,  coveting  this 
stronghold,  seized  the  Minister  Bishop  Roger,  and  imprisoned  him,  along  with  his 


WILTSHIRE  22$ 

nephew,  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Lincohi,  and  his  avowed  son  Roger,  who  was  tlie 
late  King's  chancellor,  and  under  threats  ext<jrted  from  them  their  castles  and 
possessions.  Another  nephew,  Kichard,  Bishop  of  Ely,  escaped  to  Devizes,  where 
the  mother  of  Bishop  Roger  the  chancellor  held  the  keep,  refusing  to  give  it  up, 
when  Stephen  came  there  and  threatened  to  starve  the  father,  Bisliop  Roger,  and 
to  hang  the  chancellor  imless  the  castle  was  surrendered,  and  a  gibbet  was  set 
up,  the  site  of  which  i^  known  to  this  day  as  the  Galhjws  Ditch.  Then  the 
mother,  weaker  tluui  tlic  bishop,  in  her  terror  for  her  son,  yielded  the  keep,  after 
which  resistance  by  the  Bishop  of  Kly  was  impossible.  (Freeman.)  The  aged 
Bishop  Roger,  tluis  riHed  of  his  possessions,  died  in  1139.  In  the  struggle 
between  Stephen  and  the  Countess  of  Anjou,  Maud,  his  cousin,  Devizes  was  taken 
and  retaken  several  times.  At  one  time,  a  partisan  of  Maud,  Robert  Kitzherbert, 
managed  to  surprise  the  place,  and  no  doubt  by  friendly  aid  within,  scaled  the 
walls  by  means  of  leathern  ladders  slung  from  the  battlements.  The  garrison 
were  overpowered,  and  retreating  to  a  t(jwer,  were  there  starved  out. 

Kitzherbert  was,  however,  soon  after  entrapped  by  Stephen's  custodian  at 
Marlborough,  John  F'itzgibert,  and  being  hung  in  front  of  Devizes,  his  followers 
surrendered.  Stephen  then  placed  this  castle  under  his  nephew  Herve  of  Brittany, 
from  whom  it  was  taken  after  a  siege  by  the  people  of  the  neighbourhood,  wlu) 
handed  it  over  to  tiie  Countess,  or  "Empress"  .Maud,  once  more,  and  Herve  fled 
from  England.  Maud  herself  came  tliere  on  her  escape  from  Winchester  (q.;:)  to 
I^udgershall  in  1 141,  whence,  not  being  admitted,  she  hastened  on  horseback,  dressed 
in  man's  attire,  to  Devizes,  and  left  soon  after  in  a  litter  for  Gloucester.  She  after- 
wards held  two  councils  here.  In  John's  leign  there  was  a  large  royal  park  with 
deer  attached  to  the  castle,  and  at  the  King's  death  there  were  here  thirty  falcons, 
thirty  grevhounds,  thirty  giooms,  and  a  like  numbei-  of  horses,  under  the  charge 
of  John  Marshal  the  custodian. 

Hubeit  de  Burgh,  Earl  of  Kent,  the  faithful  servant  of  John,  as  he  had  also  been 
of  Cccur  de  Lion,  being  accused  of  grave  offences  by  the  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
and  arrested  under  Henry  III.,  was  confined  here,  and  contrived  to  escape  by  the  aid 
of  his  two  servants  on  Michaelmas  Eve,  1233.  One  of  the  men  took  the  earl  on  his 
shoulders,  fettered  as  he  was,  and  descending  from  the  tower  passed  through  the 
castle  unnoticed  to  the  great  gate,  where  they  got  out,  and  crossing  the  ditch,  made 
their  way  to  the  parish  church  of  St.  John,  where  Hubert  was  deposited  safely  before 
the  altar.  The  escape  being  disco\ered  in  the  morning,  the  earl  was  dragged  back, 
hul  as  the  privilege  of  sanctuary  had  thus  been  violated,  the  bishop  had  him  replaced 
in  the  church,  the  King's  soldiers  keeping  guard  around.  Ne.xt  day  a  strong  party 
of  his  friends  came  to  his  rescue  and  brought  him  away  in  triumph  to  Wales. 
Edward  I.  spent  several  Easters  here,  visiting  his  mother,  who  had  taken  the  veil  at 
Amesbury  Nunnery.  Then  the  place  became  the  dower  of  several  Queens  tif 
England.  The(iood  Duke  Humphrey,  brother  of  Heiuy  \'.,  lived  here  occasionally. 
After  this  the  fortress  fell  into  neglect  and  disuse,  and  must  have  been  alienated  by 
VOL.  I.  2  V 


226  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  Crown,  since  in  the  sixteentli  century  it  was  partly  pulled  down  in  order  to  build 
old  Bromham  House  (the  seat  of  the  Bayntons),  as  well  as  the  lodge  at  Spye  Park. 
Leland  wrote  of  it  :  "The  keep  or  donjon,  set  upon  a  hill  cast  by  hand,  is  a 
piece  of  work  of  incredible  cost ;  there  appear  in  the  gate  six  or  seven  places  for 
portcullises,  and  luuch  goodly  building  was  in  it ;  part  of  the  towers  of  the  gate  of 
keep  were  carried  unprolitably  to  build  Old  Bromham  House "  (burnt  down  in 
1645).  "There  remained  yet  divers  goodly  towers  on  the  outer  wall  of  the  castle, 
hut  all  going  to  ruin  ;  the  principal  gate  leading  to  the  town  was  yet  of  great 
strength,  and  had  places  for  seven  or  eight  portcullises." 

In  1645  this  gate  and  a  sufficient  part  of  the  fortress  survived  to  enable  it  to  be 
held  by  a  King's  garrison  of  400  men,  under  Sir  Charles  Lloyd  the  governor,  a  good 
engineer,  who  improved  the  natural  strength  of  the  place  by  a  series  of  earthworks, 
supporting  one  another,  which  were  proof  against  the  enemy's  cannon,  and  were 
defended  also  by  stockades.  Oliver  Cromwell,  then  Lieutenant-General,  sat  down 
before  the  castle,  after  the  taking  of  Bristol,  and  having  completed  his  batteries 
on  Sunday,  September  21,  summoned  the  governor  to  yield,  and  being  refused, 
opened  tire  with  cannon  and  mortars  that  afternoon.  Some  shells  bursting  inside 
the  open  keep  so  startled  the  defenders  that  on  Monday  morning  they  made 
terms,  and  delivered  up  the  castle,  which  was  soon  after  utterly  demolished,  and 
the  site  sold.  It  was  evidently  then  used  as  a  quarry,  for  when  ancient  houses  in 
the  town  are  pulled  down  it  is  common  to  find  old  Norman  stones  in  them. 

When  the  castle  was  bought  by  the  late  proprietor,  Mr.  Leach,  he  erected  a 
large  but  uncomfortable  mansion  on  the  ancient  site,  but  this  has  been  remodelled 
and  very  greatly  improved  by  the  present  owner,  Sir  Charles  H.  S.  Rich,  Bart. 
Two  of  the  towers  of  the  early  castle  have  happily  survived,  that  on  the  N.  side 
being  practically  intact,  and  except  in  its  battlements  and  upper  defences,  is  much 
as  it  appears  in  an  old  print  of  the  last  centurv,  when,  however,  it  was  capped  by  a 
windmill  erected  on  it  for  grinding  snutt.  At  the  S.  end  is  another  ancient  tower. 
On  the  sides  of  the  mighty  mound  below  appear  the  openings  of  early  structures 
which  formed  cellars  and  dungeons,  and  it  is  thought  that  an  underground  passage 
exists  below  the  ditch,  connecting  the  castle  with  the  church,  through  which 
Hubert  de  Burgh  may  have  been  conveyed  with  his  fetters. 

LUDGERSHALL  (m/nor) 

LUDGERSHALL  is  a  small  village  .ibout  sixteen  miles  N.N.E.  of  Salisbury^ 
lying  on  the  confines  of  Hants,  between  Winchester  and  Marlborough. 
The  remains  of  the  castle  are  on  an  eminence  at  the  N.  of  the  town,  but  there 
is  httle  more  than  a  fragment  of  the  Norman  keep,  now  attached  to  a  farmyard 
wall,  surrounded  by  an  earthen  rampart  and  two  deep  ditches. 

The  fortress  is  said  to  have  been  built  soon  after  the  Conquest,  but  by  whom  is 
not  known  ;  it  was  certainly  in  existence  in  1141,  since  in  that  year,  as  we  are  told 


WILTSHIRE  227 

by  William  of  Malmesbury,  the  Empress  Maud  took  shelter  here  in  her  flight  from 
Winchester  to  Devizes — wIkii  her  brotiier  the  Earl  was  captured — staying  some 
days. 

From  that  tiini.-  till  the  rcij^n  of  Kichard  I.  nothing  is  recorded  of  the  place, 
which  appears  in  the  list  of  donations  given  by  the  King  ( i  Richard  1.)  to  his  brother 
John.  In  this  latter  King's  reign  it  belonged  to  (jcoffrey  Fitz  Piers,  Chief  Justice 
of  England,  and  in  the  right  of  his  wife,  Beatrix  de  Mandeville,  Earl  of  Esse.x  (sec 
Plksiiy,  Essex).  He  was  a  man  of  vast  wealth  and  authority,  and  had  the  manage- 
ment of  most  affairs  of  State,  being  more  feared  than  loved  by  King  John,  who 
exclaimed  when  Essex's  death  was  announced  to  him  :  "  Now  I  shall  be  King 
and  Lord  of  England."     (Mat.  Paris  and  Hulinshed.) 

The  lordship  and  the  castle  remained  in  his  family  till  10  Henrv  III.  when  in 
some  way  this  King  acquired  them,  for  he  then  nominated  one  Jollan  de  Neville, 
his  royal  warder  of  forests,  as  governor,  and  himself  came  here  later.  Then  we 
lind  Henry  using  the  place  as  a  country  palace  for  Inmself  and  his  fanuly,  and  the 
Liberate  Rolls  of  28  to  35  Henry  III.  contain  directions  to  the  constables  of 
Ludgershall  and  Marlborough  for  the  erection  of  many  additions,  and  for  altera- 
tions and  decorations  to  the  buildings  ;it  this  "  Manor  house."  A  new  hall  was 
built,  60  feet  by  40,  with  four  "upright  windows,"  and  a  pantry  and  buttery  at 
the  end  of  it,  and  a  kitchen  for  the  King,  as  well  as  one  for  his  household.  In 
1 25 1  the  walls  of  the  castle  were  to  be  renovated  on  all  sides,  and  crenellated.  The 
next  year  there  is  ordered  a  large  chamber  to  be  built  for  Prince  Edward,  with 
two  private  rooms  attached  and  Iwn  chimneys,  and  paintings  and  wainscotting 
were  often  prescribed.  In  1260  the  governor  was  Sir  Robert  de  Waleran,  a 
knight  of  importance,  who  had  been  a  faithful  supporter  of  the  King,  for  whom  he 
fought  at  Lewes  and  Evesham  ;  he  soon  after  gave  way  to  Roger,  Lord  Clifford, 
who,  after  taking  a  leading  part  on  the  Harons'  side,  joined  the  Royal  cause,  and 
afterwards  received  large  grants  of  lands.  After  this  we  lind  no  further  mention 
of  the  castle,  which  it  is  possible  was  dismantled  by  Edward  I.,  or  retained  only  as 
the  seat  of  the  manor,  of  which  subsequent  notices  are  given.  The  power  of  the 
Barons  in  his  father's  time  had  been  fostered,  if  not  originated  by  their  castles,  and 
it  is  likely  that  in  this  reign  many  were  reduced  and  rendered  less  defensible. 

Grose  gives  a  bad  woodcut  of  a  part  of  a  square  tower,  showing  two  portions 
of  the  opp(jsite  walls  of  a  square  building,  two  storeys  iiigii,  connected  by  a  cross 
wall  which  contains  a  tine  window.  This  sketch  was  made  in  i~(f^.  The 
circular-headed  windows  of  the  ruin  denote  its  Norman  origin. 

Regarding  the  visit  of  the  Empress  Maud  in  1141  :  in  StrickLuid's  "  Oueens 
of  Engl.uul"  it  is  said  that  Maud,  having  decided  to  iput  Winchester  Castle, 
her  brother,  the  Earl  of  tiloucester,  cut  a  passage  for  her  through  the  besiegers 
(that  is,  the  army  of  Stephen's  Queen  Matilda)  at  the  sword's  point.  She 
and  her  uncle  David,  King  of  Scotland,  by  dint  of  hard  riding,  escaped  to 
Ludgershall,  while  the  earl  in  rear  defended  them  from  pursuit,  till  all  his  men 


228  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

almost  being  shiin,  he  was  himself  taken  prisoner  after  desperate  fighting.  Some 
years  ago  there  was  turned  up  by  the  plough  in  the  neighbourhood  a  silver  seal 
(given  in  "Arch<xologia/' vol.  xiv.),  having  on  it  "  Sigillum  Milonis  de  Glocestria," 
with  a  knight  in  chain  armour,  on  horseback,  holding  a  lance  and  shield.  This 
Milo  p-itzWalter  was  with  Maud  at  Ludgershall. 

The  castle  stands  in  a  Roman  encampment,  half  a  mile  in  circumference,  being 
on  high  ground,  and  now  hidden  by  trees.  The  old  castle  well  still  yields  good 
water  at  all  times.  In  Leland's  time  the  building  is  said  to  be  "  clene  down,"  and 
there  was  "a  pratie  lodge  made  of  the  ruins  of  it." 

M  A  L  M  E  S  B  U  R  Y  {non-existent) 

ROGER  POOR,  Bishop  of  Sarum,  the  favourite  of  Henry  1.,  and  builder  of 
the  magnificent  Castle  of  Devizes,  commenced  to  found  one  in  the 
churchyard  of  Malmesbury,  not  a  stone's  throw  from  the  church,  to  the  disgust  of 
the  monks,  and  he  further  fortified  the  town  with  a  wall  and  gates.  He  joined 
in  placing  Stephen  on  the  throne,  regardless  of  his  oath  of  allegiance  to  Henry's 
daughter  Maud.  But  Stephen,  considering  him  a  dangerous  man,  shut  him  up  in 
his  own  castle  of  Devizes,  where  he  died  1139,  and  seized  his  castles,  including 
this  (Mie.  In  1 139,  after  active  hostilities  had  commenced  between  Stephen  and 
the  supporters  of  the  Empress  Maud,  one  of  her  partisans,  FitzHerbert,  a  bold  and 
cruel  soldier,  clandestinely  entered  this  castle,  and  burned  the  houses  of  the  town, 
vowing  he  would  do  the  same  for  every  monastery  in  Wilts — luckily  he  was 
taken  and  hanged  at  Marlborough.  Maud's  best  leaders  were  Milo,  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  and  William  of  Dover  (sec  Cricklade),  and  to  annov  the  townsfolk 
of  Malmesbury,  Earl  Milo  ran  up  three  forts  near  the  town  to  starve  them  out. 
Where  these  forts  were  is  not  quite  certain,  but  some  remains  of  a  part  of  them 
may  be  in  a  field  called  Castle  Field,  and  also  on  Camps  Hill,  near  Burton  Hill. 
The  Earl  was  driven  off  to  Tetbury,  but  his  men  returned  and  attacked  the  town 
again,  when  King  Stephen  came  to  the  rescue  and  recovered  the  castle. 

When  in  1153  Maud's  son.  Prince  Henry,  landed  in  the  middle  of  winter, 
to  try  his  chances  against  Stephen,  he  came  from  Wareham  to  Malmesbury, 
and  attacking  the  castle  succeeded  in  taking  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  keep, 
which  was  called  Jordan's  Tower,  from  the  name  of  its  governor. 

It  was  evidently  a  strong  fortress,  and  a  place  of  military  importance,  but  in 
the  reign  of  John  the  monks  of  Malmesbury  obtained  leave  to  pull  down  the 
castle,  in  order  to  enlarge  their  monastery,  and  nothing  whatever  remains  of  it 
in  consequence.     (Canon  Jackson.) 


WILTSHIRE  229 

M  A  R  L  B  O  R  O  L'  C;  H    {non-exisktU) 

IX  Stiikclcy's  "  Itineraiiuin  Curiosuin, "  Iter,  iv.,  it  is  said  that  tlic  river  Kciiiict 
was  still  called  by  the  country  people  the  Ciinnet,  from  the  name  of  tlie 
Roman  station  Cunctio,  or  the  station  derived  its  name  from  the  river.  He  shows 
the  lines  of  the  Rf)man  castriim,  one  anj^le  of  which,  with  its  rampart  and  ditch, 
still  remained,  the  X.  corner  of  the  work  beinj^  occupied  with  the  f^reat  liouse, 
then  (1723)  belonj^inf^  to  Lord  Hertford,  which  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  Xorman 
castle  erected  within  the  ancient  fortitication.  in  Saxon  or  Danish  times  the  huj^e 
mount  or  burh  had  been  piled  up,  and  may  have  been  used  for  the  castle  kcej'*, 
thou^^h  this  was  not  always  clone  :  at  Canterbury,  the  j^reat  mound,  called  the 
Danejon,  is  far  away  from  the  castle  keep. 

William  1.  had  a  castle  at  Marlbor(nij.;h,  where  he  established  a  mint,  and 
where  his  son  Henry  I.  celebrated  the  Easter  of  11 10,  but  this  buildinj^ 
must  have  j^iven  way  to  the  fortress  reared  in  Henry's  reign  by  his  Minister,  the 
warlike  Bishop  Koj^er  of  Sarum.  In  the  time  of  Stephen  it  was  held  by  Robert, 
Earl  of  C}loucestcr,  for  his  sister  Maud,  the  rij^htful  successor  of  her  father, 
Henrv  I.,  the  castellan  bein}4  John  KitzGilbert,  or  Herbert,  of  whom  we  hear  at 
Malmesbury,  and  who  is  called  by  the  monks  "a  firebrand  of  wickedness." 
Henry  II.  granted  Marlborough  to  his  son,  John  Sansterre,  who  espoused  Haloise, 
daughter  of  the  Kail  of  Gloucester.  He  afterwards  divorced  her  for  his  own 
bad  reasons.  The  King  came  here  fret|uent!y  ;  but  at  the  end  of  his  reign  the 
place  was  offered  to  the  Dauphin.  Henry  111.  was  often  here,  hunting  in 
Saveniake  Korest  and  the  Chace  of  Aldbourn.  In  the  Liberate  Rolls  of  this  reign 
are  many  orders  for  the  execution  of  work  at  the  castle.  In  34  Henry  III. 
a  new  barbican  is  directed  to  be  iiuilt,  outside  the  castle,  together  with  new 
chambers  and  a  kitchen,  and  repairs  ol  tlie  houses  and  walls.  There  were  then 
a  chapel  of  St.  Nicholas  and  a  piiv.ite  cliipel  of  the  Queen's  in  the  fortress.  In 
the  next  year  the  constable  is  ordered  to  cleanse  the  great  ditch  and  repair  it  ; 
to  crenellate  the  wall  between  the  King's  chamber  and  the  great  tower,  and 
"  to  make  a  great  round  window  over  the  King's  seat  in  the  great  hall."  Again, 
in  1260,  he  is  ordeiiil  lo  jnit  glass  into  the  windows,  to  Inuld  a  new  stable, 
"to  remove  the  shingles  from  the  roof  of  the  King's  great  kitchen,  and  to 
cover  it  with  stone,"  with  other  works.  Henry's  last  Parliament  was  held 
here  in  1267,  and  the  place  was  given  in  dowry  to  Queen  Eleanor,  at  whose 
death  her  son,  Edward  1.,  gave  it  to  his  Queen.  In  1308  Edward  II.  be- 
stowed Marlborough  on  Hugh  Despencer,  and  for  a  time  his  Queen,  "the 
She  Wolf" — Isabella — held  it.  Edward  lll.'s  sister,  Joanna,  Queen  of  Scotland, 
then  held  this  castle,  by  the  medium  of  warders,  after  wliich  Richard  II. 
granted  it  to  Sir  William  Scrojie,  on  wlio^-e  execution  in  1399  it  reverted  to 
the  Crown.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  the  "Good  Duke  Humphrey"  lived 
here,  at   the  commencement  of  the   Civil   Wars,  after  which   time  there    i>>   no 


230  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

further  notice  of  tlie  place  as  a  fortress,  though  we  liave  no  record  of  its 
being  dismantled. 

During  the  time  of  Edward  VI.  it  was  used  by  the  Somerset  fanuly  as  a  resi- 
dence, and  witii  them  it  remained,  together  with  the  barony  of  Seymour,  until,  in 
1779,  it  was  purchased  by  the  Marquis  of  Aylesbury. 

Clarendon  describes  the  town  of  Marlborough  as  "  notoriously  disaffected," 
and  it  was  stormed  and  partly  bui  nt  by  the  Royalists  under  Lord  Digby  in 
DecembL-r  1642,  when,  after  the  sack  of  the  town,  the  troops  carried  off  loot  to  the 
amount  of  ;^'50,ooo  to  Oxford.  What  was  then  left  of  the  castle  belonged  to  Lord 
Francis  Seymour,  of  Trowbridge,  a  great  adherent  of  Charles,  who  put  it  into  a 
state  of  defence  for  him.  Evelyn,  in  his  Diary,  speaks,  in  1654,  of  Lord  Seymour's 
house,  but  says  there  was  "nothing  observable  except  the  mount."  So  in 
Camden's  time  there  was  nothing  left  but  a  few  fragments  of  walls,  and  even  these 
are  now  altogether  vanished,  and  the  great  house  of  Lord  Hertford,  once  an  inn, 
and  now  a  great  school,  occupies  the  site  of  the  castle. 

MERE  {non-existent) 

L ELAND  savs  :  "The  ditches  and  the  plotte  where  the  castle  of  Mere  stood 
appere  not  far  from  the  churche  of  Mere  the  market  towne." 

The  castle  was  built  in  1253  by  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  brother  of 
Henry  IIL,  upon  a  mound  N.VV.  of  the  town,  and  the  site  still  belongs  to  the 
Duchy  of  Cornwall ;  but  little  is  recorded  about  the  place,  which  reverted  to  the 
Crown  on  the  death  of  Earl  Richard's  second  son  by  his  second  wife  Sanchia.  In 
1307  Edward  II.  granted  the  castle  and  lordship  to  Piers  Gaveston  on  his  return 
from  exile,  and  after  the  execution  of  that  unworthy  favourite  they  passed  to  Prince 
John  of  Eltliam. 

Edward  III.  was  seised  of  Mere,  which  is  mentioned  as  being  the  property  of 
Henry,  eldest  son  of  Henry  IV.,  and  it  is  still  included  in  the  Duchy.  The  castle 
receives  no  notices  subsequent  to  Edward  III. 

There  exist  very  few  traces  of  this  castle,  but  the  knoll  on  which  it  stood  is  still 
called  the  Castle  Hill. 

OLD   SARUM   {non-e.xistcut) 

MOST  of  those  who  travel  to  Salisbury  are  aware  of  the  mighty  mound  of 
Old  Sarum,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  N.  of  Salisbury,  still  showing  its 
massive  lines  of  rampart,  which  have  survived  from  time  immemorial,  and  were 
formerly  capped  by  an  ancient  castle  on  the  centre  summit.  It  is  pretty  certain 
that  this  hill  was  one  of  the  chief  fortresses  of  the  early  Britons,  taken  from  them 
by  Vespasian,  during  the  reign  of  Claudius,  at  the  time  of  his  reduction  of  the 
Belgie,  who  nihabited  the  counties  of  Hants,  Wilts,  and  Somerset,  and  it  was 


WILTSHIRE  231 

known  to  the  Romans  as  Sorbiodiminn.     Advantage  must  liave  been  taken  of  a 
conical  hill  to  form  this  extraordinary  circular  stronj^iiold,  measurinj;  1600  feet  m 
diameter,  and  included  within  an  outer  ditch  of  prodigious  depth,  on  tiie  inner 
ed^e  of  which  was  formed  a  broad  rampart,  upon  which  ran  a  wall,  12  feet  thick, 
along  the  entire  ring  of  the  circuit.     Within  was  a  broad  space  which  contained 
the  city  and  cathedral  of  Sarum,  and  on  the  inner  side  of  this  was  another  very 
deep  ditch,  concentric  with  the  first,  around  which  rose  another  lofty  rampart,  on 
the  further  side,  surmounted  with  a  ring  of  wall,  500  feet  in  diameter,  enclosing 
the  inner  court,  on  which  was  placed  the  castle,  surrounded  again  with   its  own 
outer  wall   of  defence.     Dr.  Stukeley,  who  visited  the   place  in    1722,  and  gives 
drawings  of  the  fortress,  says 
it    was  divided,   like  a    camp, 
into    four    quarters,    two    of 
these  having  a  gate,  and  that 
at  intervals  of  400  feet  round 
the    outer   wall    arose    square 
towers.     A  large  piece  of  this 
wall    remained,    and    in    the 
huge   annular    space,    which 
contained    the   city  and    was 
tlicn   ploughed  land,  In-  could 
trace  the  foundations   of    the 
old  cathedral  and  of  the  epis- 
copal palace  and  other  build- 
ings,  though    nothing    like  a 
building   was   then    left,    the 
whole  having  been    removed 

to    afford    materials    tor    tlie     new    town    of    Salisbury. 
Henry  \'lll.  the  town  of  Old  Sarum  was  in  ruins. 

Centuries  have  now  elapsed  since  that  old  city  ceased  to  exist,  and  the  Reform 
Act  extinguished  the  very  liction  of  it  as  a  Parliamentary  borough.  The  fourteen 
freeholders  no  longer  meet  under  the  "  Election  Elm  "  to  choose  their  repre- 
sentative. 

It  was  at  Sarum  that  Cerdic,  the  founder  of  the  West  Saxon  kmgdom,  tixed  his 
scat,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixth  centurv,  and  throughout  Saxon  times  there  must 
have  been  a  castle  here,  probably  of  timber  and  stones,  to  be  followed  by  something 
more  substantial  and  important  in  later  times.  At  this  fortress,  on  the  conclusion 
of  the  Domesday  Survey  in  io8f),  William  I.  collected  by  summons  all  the  bishops, 
abbots,  barons,  and  knights  of  the  kingdom,  to  do  homage  for  their  feudal 
tenures,  when  on  formal  surrender  of  their  lands  they  receiveil  them  back  under  a 
new  grant.  And  in  1091  the  Conqueror  signed  here  Bishop  Osmond's  charter  for 
the  new  cathedral,  built  within  these  fortifications.     Kufus,  in  io<;5,  held  a  great 


232  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

council  at  Saruni,  when  two  of  liis  nobles,  William,  Earl  de  Owe  or  Ou,  and 
William  d'Aldari,  were  impeached  of  hii^li  treason,  and  being  beaten  in  their  trial 
by  duel,  suffered  the  barbarous  penalty,  the  first  being  blinded  and  mutilated,  and 
the  latter  flogged  and  then  lianged,  the  brutal  King  presidmg.  In  1107  Henry  I. 
placed  his  favourite  priest,  Roger  Poor,  in  the  See  at  Osmond's  death,  and  com- 
mitted the  castle  to  his  charge,  when  it  was  encircled  with  an  entirely  new  wall, 
and  the  strength  was  much  augmented  by  this  great  castle  architect  {sec  Devizes). 
The  Court  residence  was  fixed  here,  and  in  11 16  all  the  barons  of  the  realm  were 
again  assembled  to  swear  homage  to  the  King's  son  William,  as  his  successor. 
Stephen  seized  this  castle,  as  he  did  Devizes  and  Sherborne,  and  throughout  the 
nineteen  years  of  trouble  that  fell  on  the  land  Sarum  was  occupied  and  injured 
in  turns  bv  both  Stephen  and  the  Empress  ;  besides  which  the  churchmen  and 
the  inhabitants  were  greatly  oppressed  by  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison  above  them, 
and  were  desirous,  by  the  time  that  Henry  II.  ascended  the  throne  (1154),  of 
vacating  their  unsettled  and  confined  quarters.  A  want  of  water  and  proper 
drainage  must  also  have  combined  to  make  the  place  an  objectionable  residence 
for  people  becoming  more  and  more  refined  each  reign.  At  length,  in  12 19,  the 
papal  mandate  being  obtained,  a  new  church  settlement  and  a  temporary  church 
were  transferred  to  a  beautiful  site  in  the  meadows,  where  now  stand  both  the 
cathedral  church  and  the  town  of  New  Sarum,  or  Salisbury.  The  old  hill  was 
deserted,  the  inhabitants  moving  even  the  stones  of  their  former  habitations  to  the 
new  site,  where,  besides  other  advantages,  they  had  the  benefit  of  a  pure  river,  the 
Avon,  flowing  through  their  midst.  With  this  desertion  of  the  stronghold,  the 
importance  of  the  castle  decreased,  and  the  pacification  of  the  western  country 
diminished  it  further. 

Stephen  had  given  this  castle  to  Patrick  d'Enereux,  grandson  of  Edward, 
first  Earl  of  Salisburv,  whose  son  William  succeeded  to  the  dignity.  William 
Longepee,  who  married  Ella,  Countess  of  Salisbury,  was  the  next  governor,  but 
his  son  was  deprived  by  Henry  III.  of  both  his  earldom  and  castle.  His  daughter, 
however,  Margaret,  the  wife  of  Henry  Lacy,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  was  soon  after 
restored  to  both,  as  Countess  of  Salisbury,  and  the  honours  were  continued  to  her 
only  child  Alice,  married  to  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster  (sec  Pontefract).  When 
this  noble  was  attainted,  Edward  III.  transferred  his  lands  and  title  to  William  de 
Montacute,  who  being  challenged,  as  to  his  right  to  the  castle,  by  the  warlike 
Bishop  Robert  Wyvil  to  the  test  of  single  combat,  effected  a  compromise,  selling 
the  castle  to  the  bishop  for  2500  marks  (X1667  or,  say,  £3Sy°°°  o*  oi^""  money). 
It  appears,  however,  to  have  again  lapsed  to  the  Crown,  as  Henry  VI.  bestowed  it, 
with  the  Earldom  of  Salisbury,  on  the  father  of  Richard,  Earl  of  Warwick— the 
King-maker  ;  then  one  of  the  Lords  Stourton  had  it,  and  afterwards  Edward  IV. 
gave  it  to  his  brother  Richard,  and  from  that  time  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  we 
hear  little  of  the  place.  Leyland  then  visited  it,  as  he  did  every  corner  of  the  land, 
and  reported  :  "There  was  a  right  fair  and  strong  castelle  within  Old  Saresbyri, 


WILTSHIKK  233 

loiigginj^  to  the  Erles  of  S:iiesbyri,  especi;illy  tlic  Loiigspces.  MulIi  iiotahle 
ruinous  building  of  this  castclle  yet  there  remaynith."  But  now  scarcely  a  vestige 
remains  of  anything  but  some  founchtiions,  nor  is  there  any  record  of  what  con- 
stituted the  buildings  of  the  castle,  the  only  access  to  which  was  through  a  single 
narrow  passage  in  tlie  ea'^tern  rampart.  A  curious  subterranean  passage  was 
discovered  in  1795  leading  from  the  citadel,  and  descending,  by  steps  cut  in  the 
chalk  rock,  to  the  outer  ditch,  a  depth  of  114  feet.  Within  the  keep  is  a 
depression  where  the  castle  well  existed,  and  it  is  said  there  were  four  other 
wells  within  tlic  stronghold. 

OLD    STOURTOX    HOUSE  {non-existent) 

I\  the  wild  bleak  country,  near  the  coniines  of  Somerset  and  Dorset,  three  miles 
from  the  town  of  Mere,  is  the  beautiful  seat  of  Sir  Henry  A.  Hoare,  Bail. 
It  has  been  called  Stourhead  since  its  possession  by  the  Hoare  family,  as  being 
the  source  of  the  river  Stour,  but  the  old  name  of  the  property  was  Stourton,and  it 
gave  this  name  to  a  noble  family  originating  in  the  time  of  Edward  I.  or  perhaps 
earlier.  Old  Stourton  House,  a  strong  defensible  manor-house,  stood  upon  a  site 
immediately  in  front  of  the  present  mansion,  facing  S.E.  between  this  and  the 
road,  and  may  still  be  recognised  by  the  inequalities  of  the  ground,  a  few  old 
Spanish  chestnuts  and  some  subterranean  vaults.     (M'/V/s  .lirluivl.  M(ifi-) 

It  was  built  by  Sir  John  Stourton  with  ransoms  and  other  payments  received 
for  his  services  in  the  French  wars  from  the  Henrys.  Sir  John  was  created 
Baron  Stourton  in  1448,  and  had  the  Duke  of  Orleans  in  his  custody  at  Stourton 
House  for  ten  months. 

In  the  time  of  Richard  II.  it  was  the  lordship  and  seat  of  John  de  Stourton, 
high  sheriff  of  the  counties  of  Dorset  and  Somerset.  A  descendant  of  his,  by  name 
William,  was  knight  of  the  shire  (temp.  Henry  V.).  His  son  and  heir,  John  de 
Stourton,  was  the  knight  above  mentioned,  who  was  succeeded  in  2  Edward  IV. 
by  his  son  William. 

The  fourth  lord,  and  his  brother  the  tilth,  are  buried  in  Stourton  Church, 
the  latter  dying  27  Hen.  VI II.  He  was  succeeded  by  a  son  William,  whose 
eldest  son,  Charles,  seventh  lord,  was  hanged,  in  1557.  lor  the  murder  of  one 
Hartgill.  The  account  given  is  that  a  quarrel  having  arisen  between  him 
and  this  man,  touching  the  possession  of  the  neighbouring  manor  ol  Kilmmg- 
ham,  about  wiiich  Hartgill,  his  steward,  had  deceived  and  forestalled  him. 
Lord  Stourton  caused  the  man's  son  to  be  waylaid  and  nearly  killed,  for 
which  he  was  imprisoned  and  made  to  pay  a  line  to  the  Hartgills.  Going 
down  to  their  home  ostensibly  to  pay  this,  he  decoyed  the  father  and  son 
out,  bound  and  carried  them  to  a  field  near  Stourton,  where  after  being 
knocked  on  the  head  with  clubs,  their  throats  were  cut.  Lord  Stourton 
holding  the  c.uidle  durnig  the  murder,  .md  their  bodies  buried  15  feet  deep 
VOL.  I.  -  '^ 


234  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

in  a  diini^eon.  His  lordship  bein^'  tried  at  Westminster  Hall  refused  to  plead, 
but  the  Ciiief  Justice  threatening  Jiim  with  the  torture  of  pressure,  he  confessed 
to  the  crime,  and  was  executed  at  Salisbury.  His  assistants  were  hanged  in 
ciiains  at  Mere. 

Queen  Marv  was  unwilling  to  sign  the  death-warrant  of  a  nobleman  of  her 
own  creed,  but  eventually  did  so,  and  the  only  concession  made  to  his  rank  was 
that  he  should  be  hanged  with  a  silken  cord  ;  a  favour  also  conceded  it  is  said  to 
an  Earl  Ferrers.  A  twisted  wire,  witli  a  noose,  was  hanging,  as  an  emblem  of  the 
halter,  over  his  tomb  in  the  catlietlral  as  late  as  1775.  William,  tenth  lord,  was  a 
faithful  adherent  of  the  Stuarts,  and  Edward,  twelfth  baron  Stourton  (temp.  Queen 
Anne),  sold  the  manor  and  estate  to  Sir  Thos.  Meres,  Knight,  from  whose  family, 
in  1720,  it  was  purchased  by  Henry  Hoare,  an  ancestor  of  the  present  possessor. 

The  house  covered  a  large  area,  and  retained  to  the  last  the  internal  arrange- 
ments of  baronial  days  ;  there  was  a  large  open-roofed  hall,  and  a  vast  kitchen 
also  open-roofed.  In  the  Wilisliirc  Airluvologicnl  Mai<aziiic  there  is  a  drawing 
of  the  old  house,  wliich  shows  a  quadrangle  of  stone  buildings,  partly  parapeted, 
set  round  a  centre  court,  having  a  lofty  embattled  tower  in  one  corner. 

This  building,  in  September  1644,  was  attacked  by  Colonel  Ludlow  in  the  night, 
and  his  summons  to  yield  being  refused,  faggots  were  piled  against  the  gate  and  a 
fire  raised.  The  inmates  then  escaped  by  a  back  door  and  the  Parliament  troops 
took  possession,  and  rendered  the  place  untenable. 

The  old  manor  house  was  taken  down  by  the  Hoare  family  on  their  entry  in 
1720  or  1727,  and  Sir  Richard  Colt  Hoare  in  his  "  History  of  Wiltshire  "  regrets 
that  no  more  satisfactory  account  can  be  given  of  the  ancient  residence  of  this 
family  (who  are  supposed  to  have  been  settled  here  before  the  Conquest)  than 
Leland's.  He  says  :  "The  Lord  Stourton's  place  standeth  on  a  meane  hille,  the 
soyle  thereof  being  stony.  This  maner  place  hath  two  courtes.  The  front  of  the 
ynner  court  is  magnificent,  and  high  embateled,  castelle  lyke.  The  goodly 
gatehouse  and  fronte  of  the  Lord  Stourton's  howse  in  Stourton  was  buyldyd 
ex  spoliis  gallorum." 

TROWBRIDGE   (von-cxistcnt) 

DURING  the  civil  war  between  Stephen  and  the  Empress  Maud,  daughter  of 
Henry  I.  and  Countess  of  Anjou,  which  kept  England  in  a  state  of  lawless 
anarchy  for  nearly  nineteen  years,  this  castle  belonged  to  Humphrey,  third  Earl 
de  Bohun,  and  his  wife  Maud  of  Salisbury,  who  were  strong  partisans  of  the 
Empress.  He  strengthened  it  so  el^ectually  that  when  Stephen  came  to  attack 
it  he  was  baffled.  He  caused  a  number  of  warlike  engines  to  be  constructed,  and 
pressed  the  siege  with  all  his  energy,  but  the  place  was  well  prepared,  and  stood 
out  so  long  that  the  barons  with  Stephen  became  "  weary  and  treacherous,"  so  he 
abandoned  the  attack,  keeping,  however,  a  force  at  Devizes  to  annoy  Trowbridge  as 


WILTSHIRE  235 

much  as  possible.  His  orders  were  sf)  well  observed,  that  at  last,  from  the 
pUinderin;^  excursions  between  the  two  places,  the  people  of  the  neij^hbourhood, 
who  were  the  sufferers,  cried  out  :  "  A  plaj^ue  on  both  your  j^arrisons." 

The  castle  stood  in  tiie  middle  of  the  town,  upon  hij^h  rising  ground,  still 
called  Court  Hill.  Not  a  trace  (jf  it  remains,  but  the  principal  street  in  Trow- 
bridge, which  forms  a  curve,  is  said  to  derive  its  shape  from  following  the  castle 
moat.  It  was  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  de  Bohuns,  who  fnunded  it,  and 
from  it  the  Cluniac  Priory  of  Monkton,  four  miles  frfim  Bath,  which  was  a  cell 
of  tlic  I'riory  nf  I^'wes,  founded  by  the  W'arrennes.  In  these  parts  of  Wilts  some 
of  the  earliest  lighting  took  place  iietween  the  King  and  Maud,  the  Empress 
having  been  attracted  to  this  western  coimtry  probably  because  her  natural  brcjther 
Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  who  had  built  Bristol  Castle  and  made  it  impregnable, 
had  nincli  influence  here,  several  districts  with  their  castles  being  swayed 
bv  him. 

It  came  (temp.  Edward  111.),  from  Henry,  Uuke  of  Lancaster,  by  his  daughter 
Blanche,  to  Jolin  of  Gaunt,  who  is  said  to  have  rebuilt  it,  and  when  his  possessions 
were  made  into  a  county  palatine,  this  castle  and  manor  became  one  of  the 
"  honours  "  attached  to  it,  and  the  rents  of  the  Duchy  are  still  paid  at  Trowbridge. 
Upon  the  accession  of  Henry  \'I1.  it  became  a  royal  demesne,  but  Edward  \'l. 
severed  it,  granting  it  to  Edward,  Earl  of  Hertford,  created  afterwards  Duke  of 
Somerset,  on  whose  attainder  it  leverted  to  the  Crown,  but  was  restored  by 
Elizabeth,  and  so  continued  till  temp.  Charles  I.,  when  Sir  Francis  Seymoin^  w:us 
created  Baron  Sevmoui"  of  Trowbridge.  The  property  then  passed  by  marriage  to 
the  Manners  family,  and  descended  to  the  Dukes  of  Rutland,  one  of  whom  sold  it 
in  1809  to  Thomas  Timbrell. 

It  is  not  known  when  this  castle  was  demolished,  hut  Lelaiul  describes  it  in  his 
day  as  "dene  down  "  and  in  ruins  ;  he  says  :  "There  was  in  it  a  seven  gret  toures, 
whereof  peaces  of  two  as  yet  stand."  It  wa>  approached  by  a  diawbridge  over  a 
moat.  There  are  two  ancient  houses  remaining  in  Fore  Street  with  pointed 
arches  and  other  ornaments,  supposed  to  have  been  attached  to  the  castle. 

In  1813  the  whole  area  of  the  castle  site  was  sold  for  the  erection  of  dye 
works,  cloth  factories,  and  other  industrial  buildings. 

WARDOUK  (chief) 

THE  present  grand  mansion  of  Lord  Arundell  of  Wardour  is  distant  about  a 
mile  from  the  ancient  castle  of  that  name,  which  stands,  draped  in  ivy,  in 
the  midst  of  beautiful  woodlands.  At  the  Domesday  Survey  W'aleran  GoucI, 
afterwards  written  Lovel,  son  of  the  Norman  lord  of  Ivri,  held  Wardour  ;  lie  is 
called  Venator  by  the  chroniclers,  and  was  here  temp.  Henry  I.  His  successor  in 
the  fifth  generation,  John,  Lord  Lovell,  obt. lined  (16  Richard  II.  \y)2)  a  licence  : 
"  Kernellare  tjuoddam  manerium  suum  de  Werdour — et  castrmn  uule   facere  ; " 


236  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  as  these  permissions  were  generally  obtained  before  the  work  was  commenced, 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  may  be  taken  for  the  construction.* 

Philippa,  daughter  of  John,  Lord  Lovell,  married  John,  fifth  Lord  Dinham,  or 
Dynham  (wliose  family  originated  in  a  Norman  possessor  of  Dinan,  now  Ludlow), 
bringing  Wardour  into  this  family.  Their  son.  Sir  John  Dynham,  who  served 
in  the  French  wars  of  Henry  VI.,  was  the  last  Lord  Dinham,  his  youngest 
daughter,  Catherine,  being  married  to  Sir  Thomas  Arundel,  of  Lanherne, 
Cornwall,  who  inherited  from  his  mother  the  castle  and  lands  of  Chidiock, 
Dorset  (q-v.). 

This  Sir  Thomas,  descending,  as  believed,  from  William,  first  Earl  of  Arundel, 
who  married  Queen  Adeliza,  widow  of  Henry  1.,  was  Squire  of  the  Body  to 
Edward  IV.,  and  being  attainted  by  Richard  111.,  was  restored  in  blood  by 
Henry  \'ll.,  and  died  in  1495.  His  son,  Sir  John,  married  Lady  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Thomas,  first  Marquis  of  Dorset,  the  half-brother  of  Edward  IV. 
He,  dying  in  1545,  left  two  sons.  Sir  John  Arundel,  of  Lanherne  and  Chidiock, 
and  Sir  Thomas  Arundel,  knight  banneret,  married  to  Margaret  Howard,  sister  to 
Queen  Catherine  Howard.  In  1547,  Sir  Thomas  purchased  Wardour  Castle  from 
his  kinsman.  Sir  Fidke  Greville,  who  had  acquired  it  by  marriage  with  the  heiress  of 
Lord  Willoughby  de  Brooke's  family,  to  whom  the  property  had  come  originally 
from  the  Crown.  He  was  one  of  the  friends  of  the  Protector  Somerset,  and  was 
brought  to  the  bk)ck  in  1552  with  him  by  Northiunberland,  his  son,  Sir  Matthew 
Arundel  of  Wardour,  being  restored  by  Mary  on  her  accession  in  1553.  Sir 
Matthew  died  in  1599,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son.  Sir  Thomas,  the  famous 
soldier,  called  "the  Valiant,"  who  was  made  a  Count  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 
by  Randolph  II.  in  1595,  for  capturing  the  standard  of  the  Turks  at  the  battle  of 
Gran,  in  Hungary,  and  was,  in  1605,  created  Baron  Arundel  of  Wardour  bv  King 
James  I.  ;  from  him  the  present  noble  family,  the  owners  of  Wardour,  directly 
descend.  It  will  be  seen,  Yeatman  remarks  in  his  "House  of  Arundel,"  that  the 
Lords  Wardour  represent  the  heir  of  Waleran,  the  Domesday  holder  of  Wardour, 
through  the  families  of  Fitzpain  and  Chidiock,  and  that  again  they  duectly 
descend  from  the  builder  of  the  old  castle,  John,  Lord  Lovell  and  Holland, 
through  the  family  of  Dinham,  while  lastly  they  descend  from  Lord  Brooke,  the 
purchaser  of  the  castle  from  Lord  Ormond,  through  Margaret,  the  daughter  of 
Henry  Willoughby,  of  Wollaton. 

To  return  to  the  Lovells.  That  fanuly  were  staunch  Lanc.istrians,  and,  on  the 
ascendancy  of  the  White  Rose,  Edward  IV.  granted  Wardour  to  John  Trouchet, 
Lord  Audley.  He  died  in  1491,  having  probably  only  held  this  castle  for  the 
King,  and  in  1495  it  was  in  the  hands  of  Thomas  Boteler,  Earl  of  Ormond,  who, 
in  14  Henry  VII.,  sold  it  to  Robert  Willoughby,  Lord  Brooke  (Charter  at 
Wardour).     In  22  Henry  VIII.  Elizabeth,  granddaughter  of  Lord  Brooke,  being 

*  For  the  Lovell  family,  sec  C.istle  Carv,  Somerset. 


WILTSHIRE 


237 


tile  wife  of  Sir  Fulke  Greville,  obtained  possession  of  Wardoiir,  and  from  him  it 
came  to  the  Arundels,  as  alcove  detailed. 

Thcjnias,  second  Lord  Wardoiir,  was  married  to  tlie  L;idy  Bhmchc  Somerset, 
daugliter  of  the  valiant  old  Marquis  of  Worcester,  who  so  stoutly  defended  Ka^ilan 
Castle,  and  a  most  worthy  dauj^hter  too,  since  she  was  the  heroine  of  the  siege  of 
Wardoiir  Castle  in  the  Parliamentary  War. 

Wardoiir  Castle  was  attacked  in  1643  by  a  force  1300  stron;^  under  Sir 
Edward  Hungerford,  during  the  absence  ui  the  owner  with  the  King  at  O.\ford, 
when  the  custody  of  the 
castle  was  left  with  his 
wife.  On  receiving  a 
summons  to  surrender. 
Lady  Arundel  firmly  re- 
fused, and  with  her  small 
garrison  of  fifty,  only 
halt  ol  whom  were  sol- 
diers, made  a  stout  de- 
fence for  live  days,  she 
and  her  maids  loading 
muskets  tor  the  men. 
The  Parliamentary  com- 
mander placed  guns  be- 
fore the  castle  and 
battered  the  wails,  and 
two  mines  were  sprung 
under  them,  the  second 
of  which  shook  and 
damaged  the  whole 
fabric.     At  last,  crippled 

by  want  of  provisions  and  stores,  the  gallant  lady  was  unable  to  hold  out,  and 
capitulated  on  terms  highly  honourable.  These  were  at  once  violated  by  the 
RiiuiuHr  ids,  ,111(1  alllmiigh  llie  articles  prescribed  that  all  the  goods  and  valuables 
in  the  castle  should  be  safeguarded,  it  was  plundered  of  all  it  contained,  even  the 
clothes  of  the  ladies  being  seized  ;  the  trees  were  cut  down  about  the  house  and 
grounds,  the  fences  of  the  parks  pulled  up,  and  the  deer  killed  or  let  loose  ;  the 
fishponds  even  weie  destroyed,  the  horses  and  cattle  driven  aw.iy,  .mil  the  lead 
water-pipes  torn  up  and  sold.  The  losses  were  estimated  .it  {.100,000.  Lidy 
Arundel  was  separated  from  her  children,  and  sent  away  prisoner  to  Hath.  Then 
the  place  received  a  garrison  for  the  Parliament,  under  Colonel  Edmund  Ludlow, 
an  active  Parliamentarian,  who  held  it  till  March  i')44,  when  the  young  Lord 
Arundel  (his  father  h.iving  died  of  wounds  received  at  the  battle  of  Lmsdowne), 
invested  Wardour,  and,  after  a  long  siege,  in  which   he  had  .ilmost  to  destroy  his 


WARDOUR 


238  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

own  home,  captured  it,  as  related  in  tlie  Ludlow  Memoirs.  It  was  never  after- 
wards inhabited  hv  the  family,  wliosc  mansion  was  huilt  on  gently  rising  ground 
in  the  neighbourhood. 

The  remains  are  those  of  a  fortified  mansion  of  the  commencement  of  the 
fifteenth  centurv.  A  low  outer  wall  enclosed  a  large  outer  ward,  or  bailey,  of 
which  the  gatehouse  has  been  rebuilt.  The  inner  court  is  small  and  hexagonal, 
having  unusually  fine  and  lofty  buildings  surrounding  it,  the  inner  walls  next  this 
court  being  nearly  perfect.  A  state  staircase,  with  groined  roof,  leads  from  the  court 
to  the  great  hall  on  the  first  floor,  where  the  windows  and  the  vaulted  basement 
below  it  remain.  The  arrangements  at  the  lower  end  of  the  hall,  with  doorways 
to  a  garderobc  chamber,  and  the  dais  at  the  upper  end,  can  be  seen  ;  on  the  same 
floor,  beyond  the  screens,  is  the  kitchen,  with  very  good  windows.  Beneath  the 
hall  runs  a  vaulted  passage,  connected  with  the  postern-gate,  having  a  portcullis  at 
each  end  of  it.  There  are  extensive  remains  also  of  the  moat,  which  was  of 
luuisual  width.  (Parker.)  The  plan  of  the  structure  was  a  singular  one,  being  a 
hexagon  with  one  of  its  sides  projected  in  the  form  of  two  square  fronted  towers, 
between  which  is  the  king  vaulted  passage  leading  into  the  central  court. 


2)orsetsbire 


BOW  AND  ARROW,  or  RUFUS  CASTLE  (;;««or) 

THIS  castle  stands  on  the  E.  coast  of  the  Isle  of  Portland  upon  a  clilf  in 
the  close  neighbourhood  of  an  old  church.  It  is  a  very  ancient  strong- 
hold, of  rough  construction,  full  of  small  loopholes,  in  the  form  of  a 
pentagon.  It  stands  at  a  height  of  300  feet  above  the  sea,  and  is 
connected  with  the  mainland  hv  a  bridge  having  a  verv  line  and  bold  arch.  In 
1 142  when  the  powerful  champion  of  the  Empress  Maud,  K'ubert,  Earl  of  Glo'ster, 
was  subduing  the  Dorsetshire  castles,  he  is  said  to  have  built  this  one,  but  it  is 
more  likely  that  he  only  took  it  by  assault,  and  its  origin  is  doubtful. 


lik.VXKSK.V,   ok    HR(  )\\\"  SEA  (»m,or) 

WITH  IN  the  harbour  of  Poole,  and  facing  the  entrance,  is  a  l.irge  ^andy 
isl.md,  Hoo  acres  in  extent,  well  elevated  above  the  watei, and  formerly  the 
property  of  Cerne  .Abbey.  Here  in  front,  for  the  protection  of  the  harbour, 
Henry  VI II.,  when  fortifying  the  southern  coasts  against  a  foreign  inv:ision,  built  a 
blockhouse  fortress,  the  onlv  remains  of  which  are  a  house  with  one  large  room. 
In  20  Elizabeth  further  sums  were  l.iiil  out  by  the   town  of   Poole,  and  iluring  the 


,^o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

seventeenth  century  \v;ir  tlie  Parliament  added  to  the  fortifications,  and  muskets  and 
other  warhke  stores  were  landed  here  from  abroad.  Afterwards,  a  large  family  resi- 
dence was  erected  here.  Some  years  ago  the  lands  were  sold  to  a  Colonel  Waugh, 
who.  finding  on  the  island  large  beds  of  a  plastic  clay  suitable  for  the  manufacture 
of  eirthenware,  introduced  a  pottery  ;  but  the  property  was  afterwards  sold  by 
mortgagees,  and  was  purchased  by  the  Right  Hon.  G.  A.  Cavendish  Bentinck, 
by  whom  it  was  sold  three  years  ago  to  Captain  Balfour.  In  the  winter  of  1895-6 
a  fire  originating  in  the  upper  part  of  tlie  house  consumed  a  great  part  of  the 
fabric. 


C  H  I  D I O  C  K    {non-existe>tt) 

CHli:)10CK  was  situated  three  miles  on  the  road  from  Bridport  towards  Lyme 
Regis,  some  way  inland,  but  commanding  a  view  of  the  sea.  Nothing  is  to  be 
seen  at  the  present  time  of  this  once  fine  castellated  abode  except  the  site  of  it  in  a 
field  at  the  end  of  the  village,  near  the  church  ;  but  in  the  "  Description  of  England 
and  Wales,"  published  1769,  a  drawing  is  given  of  the  castle  as  it  then  stood,  showing 
a  large  ruined  square  or  oblong  building,  with  three  fine  octagonal  corner  towers, 
and  a  part  of  the  fourth  still  standing,  one  of  them  being  loopholed  throughout  for 
a  staircase.  Two  of  the  curtain  front  walls  were  standing,  one  front  containing  the 
entrance  gateway,  which  is  wide  and  pointed,  and  the  windows  are  double  and 
pointed.  It  stood  on  a  low  mound,  and  on  each  side  of  the  centre  building  were 
the  remains  of  walls. 

This  was  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Chidiocks,  an  old  family  of  knight's  degree 
(temp.  Edward  II.  and  III.),  who  acquired  it  and  the  lands  from  John  Mandeville 
(4  Edward  I.).  They  married  heiresses  of  the  houses  of  Robert  Fitz-Payn,  Sir 
John  St.  Loe,  and  Sir  John  FitzWarren,  families  of  note  in  those  parts.  Sir  John 
Chidiock,  the  last  of  his  race,  who  died  28  Henry  VI.  (1450),  left  two  daughters, 
Marv,  married  to  Sir  William  Stourton,  and  Katherine,  married  (i)  to  Humphrey 
Stafford,  Earl  of  Devon,  and  (2)  to  Sir  John  Arundel  of  Lanherne,  in  the  W. 
of  Cornwall,  one  of  a  noble  race  known  as  the  "  Great  Arundels,"  who  came  to 
Lanherne  in  1231.  Their  son  John  married  Elizabeth,  third  daughter  of  Thomas 
Grey,  first  Marquess  of  Dorset  (buried  in  Chidiock  church),  and  his  descendant 
was  Sir  John,  married  to  Anne,  daughter  of  Edward  Stanley,  Earl  of  Derby,  whose 
son,  Sir  John,  in  Thoroton's  time  (1774),  was  owner  of  the  castle,  and  "resided 
here  in  the  ancient  castle,  or  castle-like  house  of  Chidiock."  Sir  Thomas,  second 
son  of  the  second  Sir  John,  was  grandfather  of  Lord  Arundel  of  Wardour, 
created  by  James  I. 

The  castle  was  standing  when  Buck  published  a  drawing  of  it  ;  it  was  deeply 
moated  on  all  sides,  enclosing  an  area  of  about  i|  acres.  On  the  E.  side  are  some 
remains  of  a  rampart  and  trenches,  and  on  the  S.,  before  the  place  where  the 
gatehouse  stood,  are  the  remains  of   a  bridge.     In  the  Civil  War  this  castle  was 


DORSETSHIRE  2+1 

taken  and  retaken  several  tinie;>  by  each  party  ;  it  became  a  clieck  upon  the  garri- 
son of  Lyme,  and  a  party  from  that  garrison,  under  Captain  Thom;is  Fine,  took 
Chidiock  in  March  1643,  capturing  lifty  prisoners  and  two  pieces  of  ordnance. 
In  December  1644  a  force  under  Major-general  Holburn  retook  it,  but  in  the 
succeeding  July  another  force  from  Lyme  recaptured  it,  taking  100  prisoners, 
thirty  horses,  three  barrels  of  powder,  with  arms,  ammunilion,  and  provisions. 
The  order  was  then  passed  for  the  slighting  of  the  castle,  and  in  October  of  the 
same  year,  1645,  Colonel  Ceely,  the  Governor  of  Lyme,  charges  £1  iy>.  for  the 
work  of  demolishing  the  place. 

CORFK  (c/„)/) 

CORFE  CASTLE  is  in  the  Isle  of  I'urbeck,  about  four  nnles  fr»jm  the  soutli 
coastline.  It  may  be  true  that  King  Edgar  (959-975)  was  the  founder  of  this 
castle  ;  it  is  even  said  that  he  procured  workmen  frcjin  Italy  to  build  it,  but  there  is 
no  mention  of  it  in  our  annaK  till  A.u.  978  or  981,  when  Edgar's  son  Edward,  King 
of  the  West  Sa.\ons,  was  murdered  here:  "Tlie  foulest  deed,"  says  the  Saxon 
chronicler,  "  ever  committed  by  Sa.xons  since  they  landed  in  liritain,"  which  is 
saying  a  great  deal.  The  chronicle  lamenting  his  death,  says  he  was  killed  at  even- 
tide at  Corfe's  Gate,  and  it  is  called  the  Gate  because  of  its  position  in  a  gap  between 
two  great  ranges  of  hills.  The  usual  castle  of  the  English  was  a  timber  structure 
placed  on  an  earthen  mound,  formed  of  the  excavation  from  its  surrounding  ditch, 
on  which  a  stone  building  would  have  been  impracticable  for  ages,  but  the  hill 
of  Corfe  is  chalkstone,  and  near  the  Norman  keep  are  the  remains  of  a  still 
earlier  building,  which  it  is  possible  may  have  been  the  "hospitium"  of  the 
widow  of  Edgar,  the  Queen  mother,  ..-Elfthryth  or  Eifrida.  L'pon  her  has  been 
fi.xed  by  history  the  crime  of  the  savage  murder  of  Edward  the  young  King,  her 
step-son,  which  has  from  the  beginning  thrown  a  deep  gloom  over  this  castle  that 
time  cannot  dispel.  The  storv  is  this  :  Edward,  after  hunting  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Wareham,  thought  he  would  turn  in  here  and  visit  his  stepmother  and 
his  brother  Ethelred  ;  so,  riding  to  her  door,  he  was  kissed  by  Eifrida,  and  given 
some  wine  ;  but  while  drinking  it,  he  was,  by  Elfrida's  order,  stabbed  in  the  back 
by  one  of  her  people.  Edward,  feeling  the  wound,  started  away,  and  soon  after 
fell  out  of  the  saddle  in  a  swoon  when,  his  foot  catching  in  the  stirrup,  he  w;us 
dragged  face  downward  for  a  long  distance,  and  was  at  last  picked  up  dead  and 
greatly  disliguied.  Miracles  were  then  alleged  to  have  happened  in  connection 
with  his  interment  and  his  bodv,  and  the  alTection  of  the  monks  gained  for  him 
canonisation  as  St.  Edw.ird  the  Martyr.  His  body  was  lirst  buried  by  the  yueen- 
motlier  without  any  royal  honours  at  Wareham,  but  the  next  year  it  was  removed 
with  great  pomp  to  King  Alfreds  minster  at  Shaftesbury.  A  castle  was  evidently 
built  at  Corfe  soon  after  the  Conquest,  since,  temp.  Stephen,  Earl  Baldwin  de 
Kedvers  and  a  body  of  Xormans  seized  on  it,  and  succeeded  in  holdnig  it  for  the 
VOL.    I.  J   II 


242  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Empress  Maud,  though  besiej^cd  in  it  by  Stephen  himself  (1139).  It  was  a 
favourite  residence  of  King  Jolm,  who  kept  here  his  regaha  and  mihtary  engines 
and  stores  ;  and  here  it  was  that  perhaps  the  most  infamous  crime  of  that  King's 
Hfe  was  perpetrated.  Wlien  Piince  Arthur,  tlie  young  Duke  of  Brittany,  was 
defeated  at  Mircteau  in  1203,  and  taken  prisoner  by  John,  together  with  his  sister 
and  some  200  of  the  revolted  barons,  many  of  them  were  brought  over  to  Corfe, 
and  here  twenty-two  knights  and  nobles  of  Anjou  and  Poictiers  were  starved  to 
death  in  the  tower  which  still  exists  ;  the  Princess  Eleanor,  as  a  possible  com- 
petitor for  the  throne,  was  kept  a  prisoner,  here  and  at  Bristol,  for  forty  years  of 
her  life.  Both  this  castle,  and  that  of  Wareham  near  it,  were  made  use  of 
frequently  as  places  of  confinement  for  important  prisoners.  In  1 198  the  Welsh 
Prince  Gruffyd,  and,  during  the  Barons'  War,  Henry  de  Montfort,  were  imprisoned 
there.  In  1215,  Prince  Louis  the  Dauphin  having  taken  Winchester,  strong 
garrisons  were  thrown  by  John  into  Corfe  and  Wareham,  and  the  next  vear  these 
castles  were  again  put  into  a  state  of  defence.  In  5  Henry  III.  Peter  de 
Manley,  constable  of  the  castle  (temp.  John),  delivered  it  up  to  the  King,  with 
the  jewels,  engines,  and  stores  lying  there,  and  the  persons  of  the  Princesses 
Eleanor,  and  Isabel,  sister  of  the  King  of  Scotland  (Alexander  II.);  nine  years 
after,  when  the  rebellion  of  the  barons  began,  lie  again  seized  it.  The  miser- 
able ex-King  Edward  II.  was  brought  hither  after  his  deposition  in  1326  bv 
his  keepers  Maltravers  and  Gurney,  under  their  commission,  which  gave  them 
power  to  enter  any  fortress  they  pleased  and  take  command  of  it.  They  conveyed 
Edward  by  niglit,  and  by  unfrequented  roads  to  this  place,  whence  after  a 
time  they  brought  him  to  Bristol  and  then  to  his  tragic  end  at  Berkeley.  The 
manor  and  castle,  which  were  never  in  this  case  separated,  were  (20  Richard  II.) 
held  by  Thomas  Holland,  Earl  of  Kent,  until  his  death,  when  they  were 
granted  to  John  Beaufort,  Earl  of  Somerset.  His  direct  descendants  held 
them  till  the  Duke  of  Somerset  was  attainted  for  high  treason  (i  Edward  IV.), 
when  these  and  his  other  estates  being  forfeited,  Edward  gave  them  first  to  his 
brother  Richard,  and  then  to  George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  who,  with  his  wife  Isabella, 
enjoyed  them  and  many  other  manors  here,  though  they  never  seem  to  have 
resided  at  Corfe.  Henry  VII.  granted  them,  on  his  accession,  to  his  mother,  the 
Countess  of  Richmond,  for  her  life,  and  caused  repairs  to  be  carried  out  at  the 
castle,  and  when  she  died  (1509)  Henry  VIII.  caused  them  to  be  passed  to  Henry, 
Duke  of  Richmond  and  Somerset,  his  illegitimate  brother.  At  his  death  the  property 
reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  was  conferred  by  Edward  VI.  on  his  uncle  the  Lord 
Protector  Somerset,  but  it  again  reverted  to  the  Crown  in  1552  on  his  attainder 
and  execution,  and  after  many  years  Elizabeth  granted  the  castle  and  manor  to 
Sir  Christopher  Hattoii,  wlin  died  seised  of  the  property  (34  Elizabeth).  His 
nephew.  Sir  William  Hatton,  alias  Newport,  succeeded  to  the  greater  part  of 
his  estate,  and  left  Corfe  Castle  and  manor  to  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Cecil,  Earl  of  Exeter,  and  afterwards  second  wife  of  Lord  Chief  Justice 


f-f    -•^•^'  '■'"      '-~^ 


m 


for  for 


-0  Richard  11. 


244  CASTLES   OF  ENGLAND 

defended  bv  Captain  Lawrencf,  and  the  upper  ward  \vhei-e  tlie  lady  of  the  castle 
and  her  brave  men  and  women  kept  olf  the  attacks  by  throwing  down  stones, 
and  hot  cinders  and  "wild  fire."  The  Roundhead  attempt  failed,  with  a  loss 
of  100  men,  and  tiien,  learning  the  approach  of  the  Earl  of  Carnarvon  in  force, 
Erie  broke  up  and  retired  to  Poole  on  August  4. 

Another  attempt  was  made  to  take  the  castle  in  June  1645,  at  the  time  when 
the  Parliamentary  forces  were  very  active  in  the  western  counties,  but  this,  too,  was 
beaten  ofi  for  a  time  by  Lady  Bankes  and  her  friends.  At  the  close  of  that  year, 
however,  when  scarcely  anv  other  garrison  but  this  hoisted  the  Royal  flag 
between  Exeter  and  London,  Corfe  was  beset  anew  by  Colonel  Bingham,  the 
Governor  of  Poole,  with  three  regiments,  in  addition  to  which  Fairfax  reinforced 
him  in  December  with  other  two.  Still  with  even  this  strong  force  they  might 
have  failed  again,  such  was  the  strength  of  the  fortress,  but  for  the  treachery  of 
an  officer,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pitman,  who  by  deception  introduced  100  men  of 
the  enemy  in  place  of  a  like  body  of  friendly  troops,  and  these  men  admitted  the 
besiegers,  Feb.  20,  1646.  Then  the  garrison  had  to  surrender  at  discretion,  their 
lives  being  spared,  the  siege  having  lasted,  according  to  Sprigg's  Table,  forty-eight 
days,  and  after  an  heroic  defence  by  the  lady  of  the  castle  of  three  years.  A  vote  was 
then  passed  in  the  Commons  to  "slight"  the  fortress — that  is,  to  ruin  its  defences 
and  the  structure,  and  as  an  order  of  the  House  at  that  period  met  with  strict 
obedience,  the  destruction  of  Corfe  was  thorough.  After  the  place  had  been 
plundered,  the  towers  and  walls  were  blown  up,  or  shattered  by  being  undermined 
and  propped  up  with  wood,  which  was  then  set  on  fire,  as  was  done  at  the  keep  of 
Raglan.  The  lead  and  timbers  were  stolen  or  sold,  and  thus  this  venerable  fortress 
was  reduced  to  a  state  of  utter  ruin.  Fortunately  the  presence  of  building  stone 
in  abundance  in  the  vicinity  has  saved  Corfe  from  the  common  fate  of  being 
converted  into  a  quarrv. 

The  castle,  which  has  a  triangular  trace  enclosing  nearly  four  acres,  stands  on  an 
isolated  chalk  hill,  which  partly  fills  a  gap  in  a  higher  range  of  hills  running  E.  and 
W.,  on  the  S.  side  of  the  castle,  and  through  which  two  streams,  the  Wicken  and 
the  Dyle,  flowing  on  either  side  of  the  fortress,  unite  and  pass  under  St.  Edward's 
Bridge,  and  then  form  the  Corfe  river,  falling  into  Poole  Harbour  on  the  X. 
On  the  S.,  between  the  two  brooks,  there  was  a  deep  ditch,  cutting  oft"  the  castle  from 
the  town  of  Corfe.  The  hill  has  a  natural  scarp  all  round,  and  along  the  crest 
runs  the  line  of  the  outer  walls,  flanked  by  thirteen  strong  mural  towers  and 
bastions.  The  entrance  is  by  a  grand  bridge  of  four  lofty  arches  over  the  ditch  at 
the  town  end,  and  leads  at  once  under  the  great  outer  gatehouse,  with  a  large 
circular  tower  on  each  side  of  the  gateway,  the  upper  storeys  of  both  having 
disappeared.  Here  is  the  entrance  to  the  first  of  the  three  wards  into  which  the 
castle  is  divided,  and  in  which  are  six  of  the  mural  towers  besides  those  of  the  gate- 
house. This  is  all  later  work,  but  across  this  ward,  or  bailey,  stretched  a  curved 
ditch,  20  feet  deep,  attributed  to  King  John,  having  on  its  S.  side  a  breastwork 


DORSETSHIRE 


245 


iniiimting  artillery,  which  commanded  the  ward  ;  and  at  the  W.  end  of  the  ditch 
access  is  obtained  to  a  second  or  middle  j^atehonse,  which  was  like  the  outer  one 
and  had  a  drawbridge  over  a  fosse  of  50  feet  breadtii.  Passing  this  and  its  port- 
cullis the  second  ward  is  reached,  wliich  extends  to  the  N.W.  angle  of  the  fortress 
where  the  salient  is  formed  by  the  huge  octagonal  Buttavant  tower.  Between  the 
second  gate  and  this  tower  exists  some  very  ancient  masonry,  whicii  appears  to  be 
due  to  Saxon  times,  and  where  may  have  been  the  dwelling  of  Elfrida,  tiie 
murderous  Queen-mother  ;  it  is  at  any  rate  older  than  the  Norman  keep.  (Clark.) 
All  through  this  ward  the  groimd  rises  rapidly  to  the  inner  ward,  which  occupies 
the  summit  of  the  hill,  and  contains  the  keep  and  dwellings.  This  part  also  forms 
an  irregular  triangle,  of  which  the  S.E.  angle  is  of  solid  masonry,  whence  to 
its  W.  point  at  the  great  Ixistion — where  tive  guns  were  mounted  at  the  siege — 
runs  an  immensely  strong  wall,  12  feet  thick,  and  without  any  towers,  the  natural 
strength  <jf  the  ground  not  recpiiring  ;iny.  Here  are  two  gateways,  the  keep,  the 
Queen's  tower,  and  the  apartments  and  offices. 

The  keep  is  quadrangular,  60  feet  square  and  80  high,  all  pure  Norman  work, 
having  flat  pilasters  and  originally  an  outside  staircase  (;is  at  Castle  Rising, 
Norfolk).  The  basement  is  covered,  and  the  tirst  floor  contained  a  single  large 
drearv  chamber  ;  on  the  second  floor  was  the  hall,  the  floors  being  of  wood  ;  the 
battlements  are  gone,  but  this  upper  part  li  i^  the  appearance  of  an  addition.  A 
large  garderobc  tower  is  attached  on  the  S.  side.  The  Queen's  hall,  or  tower,  on 
the  E.  side  of  the  keep  is  Early  English  with  pointed  windows  (Henry  III.).  In 
carrying  out  the  slighting  order  an  unnecessary  amount  of  powder  seems  to  have 
been  expended,  for  the  vast  masses  of  masonry  are  riven  and  shattered  and 
displaced  in  the  wildest  confusion.  The  towers  of  the  outer  gatehouse  are  blown 
forwards,  and  the  vault  is  split,  the  E.  curtain  wall  is  broken  down  in  parts,  and 
on  the  \V.  not  (jnly  is  the  wall  down,  but  the  mural  towers  are  rent,  and  one  is 
dislodged  bodily.  The  middle  gatehouse  was  overthrown  by  undermining,  and 
two-thirds  of  the  Buttavant  tower  are  gone,  but  happily  the  great  wall  between 
the  middle  gatehouse  and  keep  remains  intact  :  "  It  is  one  of  the  linest  in  Britain, 
and  almost  equal  to  Cardiff."  (Clark.)  Of  the  great  keep  the  whole  N.  wall  and 
two-thirds  of  the  W.  lie  .iboiil  m  eiionnous  fragments,  crushing  the  inner  gateway 
and  adjacent  walls.  A  piece  of  the  Norman  E.  wall  remains  unhurt  to  its 
summit;  "a  marvel  of  Norman  masonry,  and  shrouded  in  ivy."  The  outside 
staircase  is  gone,  and  the  Queen's  tower  is  quite  destroyed,  with  the  offices  and 
chapel.  The  destruction  apparently  exceeds  anything  known  elsewhere  in 
England. 


246  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

DORCHESTER    {non-existent) 

THIS  castle,  which,  as  was  the  case  at  Lincoln,  Chichester  and  Wareham, 
occupied  one  quarter  of  an  old  Roman  camp,  was  perhaps  huilt  by  William 
the  Conqueror,  but  was  pulled  down  (38  Edward  III.)  for  the  erection  of  a  priory 
for  Franciscan  monks  by  one  of  the  Chidiock  family,  by  which  of  them,  or  in 
what  year  is  not  known.  The  site,  still  retaining  its  name,  lies  to  the  N.  of 
Sheep  Lane,  on  a  rising  ground  a  little  \V.  of  the  priory,  on  the  N.  side  of  the 
town  near  the  river  Frome  ;  the  ground  is  now  occupied  by  the  county  gaol- 
The  form  of  the  enclosure  was  oval,  and  it  embraced  six  acres.  The  arms  of 
Dorchester  town  are  a  turretted  castle,  with  four  circular  towers  and  a  central 
keep,  perhaps  representing  this  structure,  which  was  originally  a  place  of  import- 
ance. Towards  the  N.W.  of  the  town  is  some  elevated  ground,  still  called  Castle 
Mount,  and  upon  the  edge  of  the  cliff  is  an  earthen  rampart  like  a  bastion  ;  a  small 
rampart  and  ditch  being  visible  on  the  N.  and  E.  sides.  In  1720  two  passages 
were  discovered  in  digging  the  foundations  of  a  chapel ;  they  were  deep  in  the 
chalk  and  were  supposed  to  communicate  with  the  town. 

There  are  some  records  of  governors  of  this  castle  :  in  17  John,  John  Marshall, 
Earl  of  Pembroke  was  appointed;  and  55  Henry  III.,  Dorchester  Castle  was 
granted,  with  a  park,  to  William  Belet. 

Dorchester,  the  Durnovaria  of  the  Romans,  was  called  Dornceaster  by  the 
Saxons,  and  had  no  doubt  a  still  more  remote  British  origin.  It  stands  on  the 
great  Icening  Street,  running  from  Seaton  at  the  coast  through  the  country  to 
Yarmouth  in  Norfolk,  and  occupies,  like  the  town  of  Wareham,  the  entire  Roman 
station,  with  its  streets  ranged  along  the  lines  of  the  Roman  camp.  Its  area  was 
about  eighty  acres,  encompassed  with  a  high  stone  and  brick  wall,  of  which 
some  vestiges  remain.  Outside  the  wall  was  a  double  earthen  rampart  on 
three  sides,  while  a  branch  of  the  P'rome  river  protected  with  steep  banks  the 
N.  front. 

It  was  once  a  place  of  much  importance,  with  a  large  trade  and  some  manu- 
factures. Lord  Clarendon  declares  it  to  have  been  more  disaffected  to  the  King 
and  more  "malignant  than  any  in  England."  In  1642  the  castle  was  put  into  a 
state  of  defence,  and  guns  were  placed  in  position  to  protect  it,  but  the  next  year 
it  yielded  at  once  to  Prince  Maurice,  after  which  time  it  remained  open  for  some 
while.  In  March  1645  Cromwell  with  a  force  of  4000  lay  there,  and  his  horse  were 
attacked  and  routed  by  1500  cavalry  under  Lord  Goring. 

After  Sedgemoor  Judge  Jeffreys  held  his  assizes  there,  when  he  had  the  court 
house  himg  with  scarlet  cloth  ;  to  save  himself  trouble,  he  declared  to  the  wretched 
prisoners  that  their  only  chance  of  escape  would  be  in  pleading  guilty,  whereon 
321  persons  were  condemned,  and  a  number  of  them  barbarously  executed  and 
dismembered. 


DORSETSHIRE  247 

L  U  LW O  R T  H    {twfi-exisle,il) 

BKl'OKE  tlic  election  ol  tlic  ina^iiilicent  sfvcnteeiith-century  maiisiun  by 
Inigo  Jones,  there  existed  in  early  days  a  castle  here,  as  we  read  that 
Robert,  Earl  of  (Gloucester,  in  ii^d,  took  the  castle  of  "Lullewarde"  for  the 
Empress  Maud,  wlifjse  natural  brother  and  most  powerful  champion  he  was. 
East  Luhvorth  was  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Xewburj^h  faiuily,  the  first  of  wIkjui  w;is 
a  Norman,  viz.,  Henry,  second  son  of  Roger  de  Bellemont,  Earl  of  Mellent,  who 
was  made  Earl  of  Warwick  by  the  Conqueror,  and  placed  here,  dispossessing  the 
original  owners  of  the  manor,  the  De  Lulleworthes.  The  Xewburgh  family 
transmitted  the  place  from  fatiier  to  son  until  Christian,  only  child  of  Sir  Roger 
Newburgh,  in  1514,  brought  the  juoperty  in  marriage  to  Sir  John  Marney,  by 
whose  daughter  Elizabetli  V..  :m<l  W.  I.nlwuitii  and  other  estates  passed,  through 
the  Povnings,  to  Lord  Thomas  Howard,  s(jn  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  created 
Viscount  Howard  of  Hindon  in  1559.  His  son  Thomas,  dying  .<./>.,  left  his  estates 
to  his  kinsman  Thomas,  Earl  of  Suffolk,  whf)  died  1619.  In  1641  the  Howards 
sold  Luhvorth  to  Humphrey  Weld,  of  Holdwell,  Herts,  and  his  descendant 
(Reginald  J.  Weld)  still  holds  the  property. 

Leland  says  that  the  ancient  house  of  the  Newburghs  lay  near  the  church  of 
East  Luhvorth,  and  near  tin  W.  end  of  the  church  foiuidaticjus  have  been  dug 
up,  and  many  ruins  appear,  probably  its  remains.  (Hutchins.)  The  existing 
castle  was  partly  built  by  Thomas,  Lord  Hindon,  about  1600,  though  not 
completed  till  hfty  years  after.  It  is  not  a  defensible  castle,  though  a  sort  of 
imitation  of  one,  being  a  superb  pile  consisting  of  a  huge  cubic  block  of  four 
storeys,  with  a  round  tower  of  hve  storeys  at  each  corner,  partly  surrounded  by  a 
terrace,  and  standing  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  chalk  downs.  But  altliough  not 
architecturally  a  castle,  it  was  garrisoned  in  the  seventeenth-century  Civil  War,  at 
first  for  the  King,  and  then,  in  1643  4,  by  the  Parliament,  as  a  check  on  Corfe  ; 
and  when  the  Roundheads  quitted  it  tliey  did  immense  injury  to  the  fabric,  the 
lead  and  other  materials  being  stolen  and  sold.  Both  James  I.  and  Charles  W. 
visited  this  castle,  and  in  later  times  it  was  employed  as  a  refuge  for  Charles  X.  of 
France  and  his  family,  when  they  fled  from  Paris  in  1830  at  the  Revolution  which 
placed  the  Citizen  King  upon  the  throne. 


l'Oirri..\XI)   (mmor) 

PORTL.AXD,  or  the  Xew  Castle,  is  one  of  the  blockhouses  built  by  Henry  VIII. 
about  1530-39,  when  apprehensive  of  invasion  by  the  navies  of  Catholic 
countries.  He  visited  the  S.  coasts  in  person,  and  caused  a  careful  examination 
to  be  made  to  determine  where  forts  should  be  placed  to  defend  the  weak  spots 
and  prevent  a  landing.  This  castle,  on  the  X.  of  the  Isle  of  Portland,  commands 
the  harbour  of  Weymouth  upon  the  S.W.  side,  while  Sandsfoot,  opposite,  ne.u- 


248  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Weymouth,  would  cover  with  its  fire  the  X.E.  side.  Henry  granted  the  place,  as 
he  did  Warehani,  to  three  of  his  Queens,  Jane  Seymour,  Katharine  Howard,  and 
Katharine  Parr.  In  1588  it  was  garrisoned  and  received  stores  in  anticipation 
of  tiie  coming  of  the  Armada.  In  the  seventeenth-century  wars  Portland  Castle 
was  besieged  several  times  and  taken  once,  in  1643,  by  stratagem,  when  the 
Royalists  found  in  it  the  plunder  of  Wardour  Castle.  Colonel  William  Ashburn- 
ham  was  besieged  liere  for  four  months,  till  relieved  by  the  Earl  of  Cleveland  in 
1644.  In  1645  it  was  again  attacked  by  the  Parliamentary  forces,  and  surrendered 
in  April  1646. 

In  1815  the  castle  was  conveyed  to  the  family  of  Manning,  but  on  the  death  of 
the  late  Captain  Manning  it  reverted  to  the  Crown.  The  building  consists  of  an 
oblong  walled  enclosure  in  rear,  with  a  circular  fronted  tower  with  battery  in 
front,  and  enclosed  by  the  wall,  standing  immediately  above  high-water  line  on 
the  shore.  In  a  little  closet  in  the  old  guardroom  is  the  following  inscription 
on  the  wall  in  old  English  letters:  "God  save  Kinge  Henri  the  VIII  of  that 
name,  and  Prins  Edward,  begotten  of  Queue  Jane,  my  ladi  Mari  that  goodi 
virgin,  and  the  ladi  Elizabeth  so  towardli,  with  the  Kinges  honorable  coun- 
selers." 


SANDSFOOT   {minor) 

ONE  mile  from  Weymouth  is  a  picturesque  ruin,  standing  on  the  edge  of  the 
rocks,  a  large  part  of  the  structure  having  been  destroyed  by  the  waves. 
It  was  one  of  the  many  fortresses  built  by  Henry  VIII.,  about  1539,  when  the  fear 
of  foreign  invasion  was  imminent.  Leland  calls  it  "  a  right  goodlye  and  warlyke 
castle,  having  one  open  barbicane,"  but  it  is  without  architectural  beauty.  Its 
walls  contain  fragments  of  Norman  and  Early  English  work,  clue  to  the  old  abbey 
of  Bindon,  out  of  which  it  was  built.  The  drawing  of  1769  shows  a  ruined 
parallelogram  of  wall,  in  two  storeys,  with  nianv  windows,  faced  with  ashlar, 
which  is  now  all  carried  away.  At  the  N.  end  was  a  tower,  bearing  the  arms  of 
England,  and  here  were  the  governor's  quarters,  with  vaulted  floors  ;  the  S.  front, 
which  is  gone,  was  semi-circular,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  gunroom.  The 
whole  stood  on  a  rectangular  platform,  with  redoubts  at  the  corners  on  the  S. 
side,  this  forming  a  gun  platform  for  the  battery  ;  but  nothing  remains  on  this 
side.  On  the  E.  were  the  remains  of  a  small  defensible  gatehouse,  and  a  ditch 
surrounded  the  three  landward  sides.  The  walls  are  thick  and  lofty,  and 
the  structure  must  have  been  a  line  one.  A  governor  or  custodian  was  usually 
appointed  for  life.     (Hutchins.) 


DORSETSHIRE  249 

SHAFTESBURY  {,wn-€xisteHt) 

AT  the  W.  extremity  of  this  town,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Mary,  is  an  eminence 
called  Castle  Hill  and  Castle  Green,  which  was,  it  is  supposed,  the 
site  of  a  castle,  although  no  mention  occurs  wliatever  of  a  fortress  beionj^inj^  to 
Shaftesbun-.  Still,  on  the  brow  of  the  liill  there  is  also  a  small  mount,  surrounded 
by  a  shallow  ditch,  and  these  may  have  belonged  to  this  traditional  castle. 
(Brayley.) 


SHERBORNE  (chief) 

OX  the  K.  of  the  town  of  Sherborne  are  the  remains  of  Bishop  Roj^er's  great 
fortress.  It  stood  on  a  rocky  hill  commanding  all  the  adjacent  vale  on  the 
N.  and  W.,  and  also  the  hilly  country  southward.  It  covered  an  area  of  Umr  acres, 
and  few  castles  were  better  or  more  strongly  situated,  as  it  was  defended  on  the 
X.  and  W.  by  steep  ground,  and  on  the  S.  and  E.  by  a  wide  and  deep  moat  fed  fr<mi 
the  park,  and  was  further  protected  by  surrounding  marsiies.  The  general  plan  of  the 
fortress  was  octagonal,  with  a  tower  at  each  angle  and  a  keep,  or  donjon,  in  the  centre. 
Leland  says  (1536)  :  "There  be  four  great  towers  in  the  Castelle  wall,  whereof  one 
is  the  gatehouse  ; "  and  the  remains  which  still  exist  comprise  the  gatehouse  of 
Norman  work,  in  three  storeys,  now  shrouded  in  ivy,  with  its  drawbridge  and 
portcullis,  the  guardrooin  or  porter's  lodge  being  on  the  left,  and  on  the  right  a 
turret  stair  to  the  upper  floors.  In  the  courtyard,  to  the  left,  are  the  keep,  the  best 
apartments  of  the  castle  and  tiic  chapel,  which  last  was  upstairs  and  stood  at  right 
angles  to  the  castle  on  the  X.E. ;  below  it  is  a  vaulted  basement  or  cellarage  ;  on 
the  N.  is  a  line  Xorman  window  with  some  vestiges  of  the  early  windows  ;  a  few 
traces  exist  of  an  outer  staircase  giving  access  to  the  chapel.  Passing  through  the 
ruin  of  the  great  hall,  a  splendid  pillar  is  seen  which  supported  the  floor  of  the 
hall.  The  garrison  well  on  the  E.  side  of  the  yard  has  a  covered  way  of  approach. 
The  castle  is  chiefly  of  the  twelfth  century,  though  part  belongs  to  the  reign 
of  Edward  111.  and  part  to  the  fust  years  of  Richard  II.     (Parker.) 

The  Conqueror  settled  the  manor  and  park  of  Sherborne,  together  with  the 
Earldom  of  Dorset,  on  Osmund,  a  Xorman  follower,  who  afterwards  turned  monk 
and  betook  himself  to  the  neighbouring  abbey,  and  died  liishop  of  Sarum,  the 
prelates  of  which  had  a  manor-house  here  before  the  Conquest.  Roger  Niger 
succeeded  in  1102,  and  was  a  favourite  with  King  Henry  I.  and  the  Earl  of  Salis- 
bury ;  he  it  was  wlio  reared  the  three  castles  of  Sherborne,  Devi/es  and  Malmesbury, 
all  of  them  mighty  fortresses.  He  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Empress  Maud,  and 
thereon  Stephen  in  1139  seized  them  all,  and  the  whole  of  the  bishop's  property, 
and  tlirew  him  into  prison.  Sherborne  was  afterwards  retaken  by  Maud  and  was 
retained  by  the  Crown  for  200  years,  until  towards  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  when  the  bishops  recovered  it.  In  11  Edward  III.  (I33X)  we  lind 
VOL.  I.  2  I 


250 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


ill  the  Patent  Rolls  that  Robert,  liishop  of  Saniin,  had  a  licence  to  crenellate  his 
manor-house  (iiiaiisiiin  iiuincrii)  of  Shiieburn,  and  another  licence  was  obtained 
I  Richard  II.  (1377)  by  Bishop  Ralph  to  the  same  effect.  Edward  HI.  granted 
the  castle  to  Montacute,  Earl  of  Salisbury,  whom  the  warlike  Bishop  Wyvil 
challenged  to    mortal    combat    for    its    possession.      The    lists    were     prepared, 

and   the    bishop    was    in    armour 
■  -   -       —  1     for    the   light,   but    more    reason- 

able counsels  prevailed,  and  the 
Church  obtained  her  own  again ; 
this  doughty  bishop  died  at  his 
castle  in  1376.  Both  castle  and 
manor  were  enjoyed  by  the  See 
until  the  Dissolution  (4  Edward 
V'L),  when  the  bishop  made  them 
over  to  Lord  Protector  Somerset, 
on  whose  attainder  the  Crown 
demised  them  to  Sir  John  Paulett, 
Knight,  for  99  years;  but  the 
bisliop  managed  to  get  the  assign- 
ment cancelled  at  law  on  the  plea 
of  intimidation.  Elizabeth  then 
separated  Sherborne  from  the  See, 
and  bestowed  it  on  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  and  he  held  it  till  his 
condemnation,  when  the  whole 
was  confiscated.  It  was  to  these 
lands  that  James  I.  referred  when 
he  refused  their  restoration  to  the 
pleading  of  Raleigh's  widow,  begging  for  them  on  her  knees  of  this  con- 
temptible King  :  "  A  mun  liae  the  londs — a  mun  hae  'em  fur  Carr,"  he  cried. 
Then,  when  this  precious  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset,  with  his  countess,  was 
convicted  of  the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  and  disgraced,  the  castle 
and  manor  again  fell  to  the  Crown  and  were  presented  to  John  Digby,  on 
his  return  from  the  Spanish  Embassy,  in  consideration  of  the  private  funds 
of  his  own  which  he  had  there  expended.  He  was  created  Baron  Digby  of 
Sherborne  in  1613,  and  Earl  of  Bristol  in  1623.  He  suffered  in  the  Civil  War 
by  changing  sides — first  siding  with  the  Parliament,  and  then  supporting  the 
King — for  which  he  was  banished,  and  died  in  Paris  m  Januarv  1652  ;  the  Bristol 
earldom  became  extinct  in  1698.  It  was  remarked  at  the  time  that  no  family  ever 
held  this  old  chuich  property  for  more  than  three  generations.  The  estate  then 
reverted  to  William,  fifth  Lord  Digby,  who  died  1752,  aged  90.  The  earldom 
ended    with    his  great-grandson,   Edward,  second   Earl,  in  1856,  who  died  s.p., 


C.\TEHOUSE 


DORSF.TSITIR1-; 


251 


when  his  property  passed  to  his  sister,  Uidy  Charlotte  Digby,  wife  of  WiMiam 
Win^'lield  Baker,  a  Master  in  Chancery,  who  ched  in  1883,  when  the  estate  and 
castle  passed  to  her  nephew,  Mr.  J.  Kenelm  I).  Winj^lield  Dijibv. 

ill  1642,  Sherborne  Castle  was  held  for  tlie  Kiny  bv  the  Marquess  of  Hert- 
ford with  a  strong  garrison  against  the  Earl  of  Bedford,  who,  after  an  attack  lasting 
five  days,  gave  it  up  and  retired.  Bedford's  sister,  Lady  Anne,  the  wife  of  Lord 
George  Digby,  was  in  the  castle,  and  on  receiving  orders  to  leave  it  she  rode  off 


SHERUORNK 


to  her  brother's  tent  al  his  camp,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  X.  of  Sherborne, 
and  told  liim  that  if  he  persisted  in  the  siege  he  would  find  his  sister's  bones 
buried  under  the  ruins.  This  was  the  end  of  the  first  siege,  but  in  July  1645,  after 
the  storming  of  Bridgwater,  it  was  resolved  to  reduce  Shciborne  if  possible,  and  a 
brigade  of  horse  and  foot  was  sent,  "under  that  pious  and  deserving  gentleman, 
Colonel  Pickering,"  to  invest  the  place.  Then  on  August  2  Sir  Thomas  F'airfax  the 
general,  and  Croiuwcll  the  lieutenant-general,  reconnoitred  together  the  castle  and 
its  defences,  and  afterwards  gave  orders  for  a  close  siege,  which  was  at  once  actively 
commenced.  On  the  6th,  a  suuuuons  was  sent  to  Sir  Lewis  Dives,  the  governor, 
to  surrender,  but  it  was  scouted,  and  a  regular  siege  by  s;ip  and  mines  w;is  carried 
on  with  the  aid  of  a  body  of  Mendip  miners,  who  were  set  to  work  on  the  12th. 
Meantime,  the  garrison,  by  their  small-arms  fire  from  one  of  the  towers,  killed 
several  officers  of  the  enemy,  while  they  m.m.iged  to  hinder  the  appro.ich  and 
burnt  a  bridge  which  was  being  thrown  over  the  rivulet.  Fairfax  sent  in  an  ofier  to 
allow  Lady  Dives  and  other  women  to  leave  the  castle,  but  it  was  not  accepted. 
Vu  the  14th  the  "whole  cannon  and  the  demi-cannon,"  which  had  been  sent  for 


2^2  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

from  Portsmouth  and  were  planted  on  a  new  battery,  opened  fire,  and  in  seven 
hours  had  made  a  large  breach  in  the  wail,  and  beaten  down  one  of  the  towers,  when 
a  final  summons  was  made  and  firmly  rejected  by  the  governor.  By  this  time  the 
approaches  were  so  close  to  the  walls  that  Fairfax's  soldiers  could  pull  out  the 
wool  from  the  sacks  hung  on  them,  and  all  was  prepared  for  storming  the  works 
next  day,  when  the  mine  was  to  be  completed  and  every  soldier  ready  with  a 
faggot  for  filling  the  ditch,  an  order  to  this  end  producing  in  two  hours  above 
6000  faggots.  On  the  14th,  Fairfax  had  succeeded  in  gaining  the  tower  "  in  the 
corner  of  the  castle"  from  which  the  deadliest  fire  had  come,  and  on  the  15th, 
when  the  storming  took  place,  his  men  gained  another  tower  which  commanded 
the  guns  placed  by  the  garrison  in  defence  of  the  breach,  and  so  were  able  to  drive 
in  the  defenders.  Then  the  garrison,  losing  heart,  retreated  into  the  keep  and  castle, 
and  exchanged  their  red  flag  for  a  white  one ;  but  it  was  too  late  for  staying  the 
soldiers,  and  a  sack  of  the  place  was  carried  out,  "  all  except  Sir  L.  Dives  and  his 
lady  and  some  few  more  being  stripped  of  all  they  had,"  quarter  only  being  given. 
Great  plunder  was  gained.  The  garrison  was  600,  and  there  were  1400  stand 
of  small  arms,  thirty  horses,  "eighteen  ordnance,  a  morter  piece  and  a  murderer," 
sixty  barrels  of  powder,  and  much  stores  and  fine  things ;  then  there  were  a  great 
many  of  the  gentry,  officers,  and  ten  clergy  shut  up,  who  probably  had  to  be 
ransomed.  Thus  fell  Sherborne  Castle,  which  two  or  three  days  after  was  ordered 
to  be  "slighted,"*  when  the  faiiric  was  demolished,  and  its  materials  were  partly 
sold  and  partly  used  to  build  the  church  and  a  portion  of  the  present  mansion.  In 
this  latter  house  William  of  Orange  slept,  on  his  way  from  the  landing  in  Torbay  to 
London,  in  October  1688.  It  was  the  residence  and  property  of  Lord  Digby,  and 
now  belongs  to  his  descendant.  It  is  built  in  the  form  of  the  letter  H,  and  the 
centre  of  it  has  the  interest  of  having  been  erected  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  the 
wings  being  added  by  Lord  Bristol  after  the  I^estoration. 

At  the  old  castle,  which  had  several  drawbridges,  there  was  on  the  N.  side  a 
subterranean  passage  giving  access  into  the  neighbouring  valley,  which  long 
remained  unnoticed. 

W A  R  E  H  A  M   (lion- existent) 

WAKEHAM  was  a  castle  founded  in  an  ancient  town  which  existed  within  a 
very  curious  earthwork,  occupying  a  neck  of  land  between  the  two  rivers 
of  Frome  and  Piddel,  which  flow  into  Poole  harbour.  The  country  to  the  S.  of 
these  rivers,  which  here  pursue  a  parallel  course  from  W.  to  E.  before  uniting,  is 
called  the  Isle  of  Purbeck,  of  which  Corfe  was  the  key,  and  Wareham  protected  that 
fortress  on  the  N.  together  with  the  harbour  of  Poole.  In  early  ages,  when  the 
present  meado\\-s  and  marshes  of  this  Dorset  coast  were  tidal  flats,  the  channel  of 

*  Sprigg's  "  Anglia  Rediviva." 


DORSETSHIRE 


253 


tlic  FroiiK-  was  deep  enoiij^h  for  the  p:issage  of  Suxon  and  Danish  sliips  to  he  under 
tlie  ramparts  of  the  town,  wliicli  may  possibly  have  lu*en  thrown  up  by  Fioman 
hands.  The  trace  of  the  wonderful  earthworks  enclosin;^  the  town,  with  its 
intersection  of  main  roads  in  the  centre,  is  distinctly  Roman,  tliough  Freeman 
suggested  that  the  work  might  he  due  to  the  Welsli  (British),  who  had  learnt  the 
Roman  rides  of  castra- 
mentation.  These  walls 
form  an  immense  rectan- 
gular enclosure  between 
the  streams,  a  very  strong 
double  rampart  and  wet 
ditches  extending  from  the 
left  hank  of  tiie  Fiome  on 
the  S.,  to  the  right  bank  of 
the  Piddel,  and  so  f(jrniing 
the  W.  defence;  then  along 
this  bank  of  the  latter  river 
runs  a  scarp,  45  feet  high, 
as  the  bulwark  on  the  X. 
side,  for  some  600  yards, 
where  it  tinns  S.  again 
towards  the  P'rome,  with 
a  single  bank  and  ditch  as 
the  defence  on  the  E.,  the 
Frome  river  forming  the 
only  protection  on  the  S. 
side.  Two  main  roads,  to 
Corfe  and  to  Dorchester, 
divide  this  square  enclo- 
sure with  its  tcnvn  into 
four  quarters,  like  a  I^oman 
camp,   and    in    the    S.W. 

tiuarter  is  a  huge  conical  mound,  flat  at  toji  and  50  feet  above  the  river,  with  a 
diameter  of  60  feet,  and  having  its  own  surrounding  moat  60  feet  wide — in  fact, 
a  Saxon  burh,  the  citadel  of  the  great  camp — and  here,  as  usual,  was  erected 
the  Norman  castle  on  the  sunnnit  of  the  old  English  mound.  The  form  of  this 
structure  cannot  he  known  for  a  certaintv,  as  nothing  whatever  remains  of  it 
above  ground,  but  its  foundations  were  discovered  not  many  years  ago  by  the 
present  proprietor  when  excavating  for  a  building.  An  old  Norman  doorway 
is  to  be  seen  which  may  have  come  from  this  castle. 

The  place  was  of  importance  in  Saxon  times.     King  Meorhtric,  who  married 
Offa's  daughter  Edburh,  and  was  poisoned  by  her,  w;us  buried  at  Warehain  in  800. 


St.  Marys. 

H     Caslle. 


WAREHAM 


It    Trinity. 


C     St.  Martin's. 


1     Bowling  Urccn. 


254  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

But  \vc  do  not  hear  of  tliis  part  of  Wessex  till  the  time  of  Alfred,  when,  in  876,  the 
army  of  Giitlirum,  the  Danish  King  of  East  Anglia,  suddenly  c?ime  down  on  Ware- 
ham,  having  marched  thither  through  the  whole  breadth  of  the  land,  perhaps  to 
meet  their  fleet  in  Poole  harbour.  They  arranged  a  peace,  however,  at  the  time  with 
Alfred,  and  retired  to  Exeter,  but  broke  the  treaty  next  year,  when  they  sailed 
round  with  a  large  fleet  to  Swanage,  near  Wareham  ;  here  in  a  great  storm  120 
of  their  ships  were  wrecked  and  the  Danes  then  made  a  new  treaty  with  Alfred. 
They  came  again  marauding  in  998,  and  in  1015  Canute  came  up  the  Frome, 
plundering  and  murdering,  and  in  the  end  subdued  the  kingdom  of  the  West 
Saxons.  Wareham  Castle  is  the  only  one  mentioned  in  the  Domesday  Survey  in 
this  county,  therefore  by  that  time  the  wooden  castle  on  the  Saxon  burh  may  have 
been  replaced  by  a  Norman  one  of  stone.  Here  was  confined  Duke  Robert  of 
Normandy,  and  the  castle  is  also  famous  as  the  scene  of  the  imprisonment  and 
death  of  Robert  de  Beleme,  son  of  Roger,  Earl  of  Montgomeri,  who  came  over 
with  Duke  William,  described  as  "the  greatest,  the  richest,  and  the  wickedest  man 
of  his  age,"  "the  Devil  of  Beleme  "  (sec  Bridgeworth,  Shropshire).  Henry  I., 
against  wliom  he  rebelled,  brought  him  from  Normandy  and  confined  him  here, 
where  he  starved  himself  to  death  or  otherwise  died. 

In  the  war  between  Stephen  and  the  Empress  Maud  both  town  and  castle  were 
taken  and  retaken  more  than  once.  The  Earl  of  Glo'ster  embarked  here  in  1 142, 
when  on  his  way  to  Anjou,  and  liis  son  William  was  Governor  of  Wareham  when 
the  place  was  taken  by  Stephen.  The  Earl,  however,  retook  it  after  a  siege  of 
three  weeks,  and  then  strengthened  both  it  and  Corfe  Castle.  It  was  at  this  time, 
too,  that  Glo'ster  took  the  other  Dorset  castles  of  Portland  and  Lulworth,  and 
probably  built  the  Bow  and  Arrow,  or  Rufus  Castle,  in  Portland.  In  1153, 
Prince  Henry  landed  here  with  3000  foot  and  140  knights  to  attack  Stephen  and 
relieve  Wallingford,  his  first  act  being  to  take  Malmesbury  Castle.  King 
John  was  here  four  times,  in  all  for  fifteen  days,  and  during  one  of  his  visits 
in  1213  perpetrated  one  of  his  barbarous  acts.  Peter  of  Pontefract,  a  hermit, 
had  prophesied  that  John  would  be  deposed  on  Ascension  Day  that  year,  and  after 
the  day  had  passed,  by  the  King's  order  he  was  dragged  about  the  streets  here  at 
the  tails  of  horses,  and  hanged  and  quartered.  Wareham  was  long  a  noted  sea- 
port, and  until  about  1558  fair-sized  ships  reached  its  quays.  The  Manor  was 
vested  in  the  Crown  from  early  ages.  Henry  VIII.  granted  it  successively  to  three 
of  his  wives  for  their  lives — wliich  were  short.  Then  James  I.  gave  it  to  two 
mdividuals,  Thomas  Emmerson  and  R.  Cowdal,  and  by  the  end  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  whole  manor  had  been  repurchased  and  parcelled  out. 

Tlie  fortress,  of  whose  form  and  building  there  seems  to  be  no  record,  together 
with  the  town,  changed  hands  more  than  once  during  the  war  of  the  King  and 
Parliament.  In  August  1642,  at  the  beginning  of  hostilities,  a  Royalist  force 
wrested  the  castle  from  their  enemies,  but  it  was  retaken  in  the  succeeding 
February.     In  April  1644  another  strong  King's  party,  under  Colonel  Ashburnham 


DORSETSHIRE  255 

and  Lieutenant  Colonel  O'Brien,  a  brother  of  Lord  Inchiquin,  attacked  and 
took  it  with  the  small  loss  of  two  killed  and  five  wcnnidcd,  when  Prince  Maurice 
added  a  force  of  500  men  to  the  j^arrison.  In  the  followinj^  June  it  was 
summoned  by  Essex  in  vain,  and  in  August,  Sir  Astley  Cooper  came  before  it  with 
1200  horse  and  foot,  and  gained  the  outworks,  and  the  place  was  at  once  sur- 
rendered upon  articles.  The  fact  then  transpired  that  Lord  Inchiquin,  havin;^ 
joined  the  side  of  the  Parliament,  had  effected  the  desertion  and  surrender  of  his 
brother.  In  March  1045  a  vote  of  the  House  was  p;issed  for  the  "sliyhtinjj" 
and  demolition  of  Wareham,  this  castle  not  beinj;  required  now  as  a  check  upon 
Corfe,  which  had  fallen.  The  western  ramparts  obtained  the  name  of  "  Bloody 
Bank"  after  Sedj^emoor,  from  the  ruthless  execution  there  of  a  number  of  the 
victims  of  Judge  Jeffreys,  of  infamous  memory.  The  site  of  the  cxstle  keep  was 
granted  to  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  and  passed  with  the  manor  of  Corfe  to  the 
Bankes  famiiv. 


WOODS  FOR  I)   (tnwor) 

WOODSKOKD  is  on  the  Frome,  between  Wareiiam  and  Dorchester.  Leland 
writes  :  "  The  castle  of  Woodesford  upon  the  ryver  of  Frome,  was  sum  tyme 
longging  Guido  Briente,  and  after  to  Stafford,  and  now  to  Strangwaise."  Coker 
says  that  in  his  time  this  castle  was  almost  "ruinated."  It  was  a  large  and  lofty 
structure,  quadrangular  in  shape,  with  a  square  fianking  tower  at  each  corner  ; 
the  E.  and  \V.  sides  are  gone,  but  there  are  some  remains  on  the  S.,  contained  in 
a  farm-house.  The  principal  entrance  was  on  the  W.,  on  which  side  is  an  ancient 
stone  staircase,  now  reaching  higher  than  the  house  owing  to  the  removal  of  the 
battlements  ;  there  is  also  a  small  staircase  in  the  S.E.  corner,  loopholed  for  bows 
and  crossbows.  On  the  V\'. are  considerable  traces  of  ruins,  and  there  are  remains 
of  a  ditch  round  the  castle.  The  ground  floor  was  vaulted  ;  above  it  are  what  are 
called  the  King's  room,  with  a  small  oratory,  and  the  Queen's  room,  or  Solar,  which 
is  provided  with  a  stiuint  into  the  chapel  ;  there  are  also  a  hall  and  a  guardroom 
with  antechamber.  The  sole  remaining  tower  is  that  at  the  N.E.  corner,  and  i> 
called  the  Beacon  Tower. 

This  Castle  was  built  by  Guy  de  Brian,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.     Its  present 
possessor  is  Lord  Uchester,  wIkj  has  restored  what  was  possible  with  great  care. 


HADLEIGH 


Essey 


COLCHESTER  {chief) 

IN  the  year  44  A.D.  the  Emperor  Claudius,  having  first  sent  forward  a  large 
expeditionary  force  for  the  third  invasion  of  Britain,  followed  the  successes 
which  his  generals  Plautius  and  Vespasian  had  obtained  over  Caractacus 
and  his  Britons,  by  himself  coming  with  additional  forces  and  carrying 
the  war  into  the  eastern  part  of  the  country,  where  he  finally  defeated  the 
enemy,  and  took  possession  of  their  city  Camalodunum.  Here  he  founded 
a  colony  of  old  soldiers  and  others,  as  he  had  previously  done  among  the 
Germans  at  Koln  and  Trier,  causing  also  a  temple  to  be  built  in  the  most 
commanding  position  of  the  colony,  dedicated  with  divine  honours  to  himself. 
The  tyrannic  rule  of  their  Roman  masters  was,  however,  more  than  could  be 
endured  by  the  Britons,  and  the  insurrection  under  Boadicea  swept  over  Colonia 
and  destroyed  it  root  and  branch. 

We  hear  no  more  of  the  place  till,  in  Saxon  times,  we  find  it  resettled  under 
the  name  of  Colonia,  or  Colne-ceaster  ;  and  afterwards,  when  East  Anglia  fell 


ESSEiX  257 

under  the  dominion  of  the  Danes,  it  became  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  Danish 
power. 

Then,  wlien  this  power  was  waning,  in  the  tentli  century,  the  English  of  Kent, 
Surrey,  and  Essex  coming  to  Colchester,  stormed  the  place,  and  in  Saxon  stvle 
massacred  every  living  person  in  it.  Soon  after,  in  921,  King  Edward  the  Elder, 
son  of  Alfred,  came  thither  and  repaired  the  old  walls,  and  re-estahlished  the  Saxon 
burgh,  but  there  is  no  record  of  any  castle  there,  even  of  wood.  The  Roman 
walls,  which  still  exist,  constituted,  no  doubt,  a  sufficient  stronghold  ;  the  circuit 


COLCHESTER 


of  them,  in  an  irregular  parallelogram  of  1000  yards'  length,  enclosing  an  area  i»f 
loS  acres,  w.is  formed  of  a  wall  of  septaria  stones  and  brick,  10  feet  thick,  backed 
by  an  earthen  bank,  and  Hanked  by  towers  at  intervals.  This  wall  was  defended 
on  tlu-  N.  and  E.  sides  by  a  bene!  of  the  river  Colne.  at  a  place  where  a  paved 
stone  ford  existed,  and  as  the  land  on  this  bank  dominated  the  adjacent  country, 
an  extended  prospect  was  to  be  obtained  from  its  ramparts.  Colchester  was  a 
port  of  some  importance,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  sea,  and  at  that  time  with 
suf^cient  depth  of  water  in  its  river  to  float  the  heavier  boats  of  the  period. 

When  Duke  William  sailed  for  the  conquest  of  England,  he  took  with  lum  the 
four  sons  of  Hubert  de  Kie,  a  lordship  near  Bayeux,  in  Normandy,  all  of  whom 
rose  to  eminence  under  his  favour;  one  of  them,  Eudo,  shareil  largely  in  the 
plunder  of  the  English  manors,  receiving  sixty-four  of  these,  of  which  twenty-live 
were  in  Essex,  and  to  him  the  Conqueror  granted  all  his  own  rights  in  Colchester. 
Eudo  had  also  obtained  the  office  of  Dapifer,  or  High  Stew.ud,  of  Normandy, 
vol..  I.  ^  ^ 


258  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  later  was  appointed  to  the  same  hi,!4li  otftce,  that  of  Grand  Seneschal,  of 
England. 

It  was  tills  Eudo  Uapifcr  who  is  thought  to  have  built  the  Norman  castle  we 
now  see  at  Colchester,  being  ordered,  perhaps,  or  expected,  by  William  to  erect 
one.  It  was  an  immense  tower  oi-  keep,  by  far  the  largest  of  all  Norman 
keeps  in  England,  measuring  155  feet  by  113,  whereas  the  White  Tower  of 
London  is  but  116  by  96.  It  closely  resembles  in  plan  and  arrangement  the 
Towers  of  London  and  Rochester,  and  it  is  most  probable  that  the  cleric-architect 
of  these  (Gundulph,  Bishop  of  Rochester)  was  consulted  by  Eudo  for  his  castle  of 
Colchester,  as  he  was  for  Eudo's  monastery  there  of  St.  John.  The  date  given  for 
its  erection  is  1076-8,  but  there  is  no  certainty  about  it.  It  stands  somewhat 
towards  the  N.E.  corner  inside  the  Roman  wall,  and  is  built  chiefly  of  Roman 
bricks  and  tiles  from  the  ancient  town  with  bands  of  stonework,  and  it  is  founded 
on  the  original  gravel  without  any  mound.  The  plan  is  the  familiar  one  of  the 
four  projecting  corner  turrets  or  buttresses,  with  a  chapel  apse,  and  originally  it 
perhaps  hail  another  storey,  which  would  add  much  to  its  stateliness.  There 
was,  of  course,  the  castle  and  an  outer  or  nether  bailey,  but  of  these  no  vestiges 
can  be  seen. 

The  remains  of  the  l-Joman  wall  on  the  E.  X.  and  W.  sides  enclose  an  area 
known  as  the  inner  bailey.  These  ancient  walls  are  reveted  with  an  earthen 
slope  on  each  side,  that  on  the  N.  being  40  feet  in  height. 

In  Speed's  Miigdzliie  of  1610,  the  wall  on  the  S.  also  is  shown,  but  this  was  pulled 
down  by  one  Robert  Norfolk,  and  a  row  of  houses  erected  on  its  site  during  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  lower,  or  outer  bailey,  was  on  the  N.  side  of  the  inner 
bailey,  and  was  bounded  by  the  N.  wall  of  the  town  :  its  bomidaries  are  still 
traceable. 

Grand  as  was  this  castle,  and  important  its  position,  although  it  endiux'd 
several  sieges  and  was  never  captured  by  assault,  it  has  little  or  no  military  history 
in  itself.  When  Eudo  died,  his  castle,  according  to  common  Norman  usage, 
reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  Henry  I.  bestowed  the  keeping  of  it  on  Hamo 
St.  Clare,  who  was  succeeded  by  Hubert  St.  Clare,  whose  daughter  and  heiress 
brought  it  in  marriage  to  William  de  Lanvalei,  lord  of  Stanway,  in  whose  familv 
it  remained  for  two  generations  further.  King  John  came  there  the  vear  before 
Magna  Charta,  when,  mistrusting  the  constable  Lanvalei,  he  appointed  one  of  his 
Flemings,  one  Harengoot,  keeper  of  the  castle,  who  obtained  from  London  two 
24-inch  balistas  and  six  of  12-inch,  with  engineers  capable  of  using  them,  for  its 
defence,  and  strengthened  the  outworks  of  the  castle.  But  soon  after  came  the 
triumph  of  the  barons  at  Runimede,  and  the  consecjuent  replacement  of  Lanvalei 
in  1 2 15,  followed  in  a  few  months  by  the  unaccountable  paralvsis  of  the  barons' 
power  and  spirit,  and  the  renewal  of  civil  war  by  their  vindictive  King.  In 
November  the  barons,  having  obtained  some  troops  from  the  French  King, 
placed  a  part  of  them  in  Colchester,  under  the  Earl  of  Winchester,  whereupon 


ESSKX  250 

John  ordered  its  attack  under  Savaric  de  Mauleon,  who  had  just  taken  Rochester 
Castle,  and  wlio  had  tlierefore  to  transport  his  siejje  train  tlience,  so  tliat  it  was 
late  in  January  12 16  before  the  siege  of  Colchester  was  begun;  and  in  March, 
John  himself  appearing  before  tlie  walls,  the  French  garrison  surrendered, 
entailing  the  cession  of  the  fortress,  and  the  Fleming  was  reinstated.  He 
continued  to  hold  it  until  tiie  terms  of  a  temporary  truce  restored  its  keeping  to 
the  power  of  the  barons,  and  in  1216  it  was  occupied  by  the  Dauphin  and  his 
Frenchmen.  Shortly  after  came,  happily,  the  end  of  John's  pernicious  life.  When 
Lanvalei  died,  his  daughter  became  the  ward  of  Hubert  de  Burgh,  the  faithful 
servant  of  the  late  King,  and  he  married  hei  to  his  son,  who  thus  be<.ame  consUible  ; 
but,  on  his  attainder,  the  castle  was  handed  over  to  Stephen  de  Segrave,  under 
whom  it  became  a  prison  for  felons.  The  sec-saw  of  alternate  victory  and  defeat 
between  Henry  HI.  and  his  nobles  caused  three  changes  in  the  custodianship  of 
Colchester,  which  was  tinally  given  by  Henry  to  Thomas,  brother  to  the  Earl  of 
Gloucester. 

Thencefoith  all  military  ciiaiacter  ceases  with  the  fortress,  which  became 
a  county  prison  under  the  care  of  the  sheriff,  and  although,  during  the  civil 
war  in  the  seventeenth  century,  the  town  of  Colchester  stood  a  close  and 
severe  siege  by  the  Parliamentary  forces  under  Fairfa.x,  the  castle  itself  took  no 
part.  Perhaps,  however,  the  tragic  end  of  this  siege  has  some  connection  with 
the  old  fortress,  inasmuch  as  the  shooting  in  cold  blood  of  the  two  gallant 
Royalist  defenders  of  Colchester,  Sir  Charles  Lucas  and  Sir  George  Lisle,  by 
Fairfax,  took  place  under  its  X.  wall  on  August  27,  1648.  In  this  year,  the  King 
being  a  captive,  it  was  thought  tiiat  a  successful  rising  of  the  Royalists  in  different 
parts  of  the  kingdom  would  enable  him  to  obtain  fairer  terms  from  his  enemies, 
and  a  force  of  4000  was  accordingly  led  by  Goring  into  the  eastern  counties,  and 
made  tiieir  way  to  Colchester.  They  were  closely  followed  by  Fairfax,  who 
arrived  at  I^'xden  Heatii  in  tlie  vicinity  on  June  13,  with  a  force  sufficiently  large 
to  completely  invest  the  town,  which,  on  a  summons  to  surrender  being  con- 
temptuously refused,  he  proceeded  to  do  by  proper  siege  tactics,  with  lines  and 
batteries.  The  Royalists  made  a  gallant  defence,  but  the  place  was  not  provisioned 
for  a  siege,  and  the  King's  cause  iiaving  failed  in  all  other  points,  the  leaders  were 
forced  by  the  famished  townspeople  to  surrender  to  the  Parliament  on  August  27, 
the  senior  officers  submitting  themselves  without  assurance  of  iiuarter. 

That  same  day  a  council  of  war  assembled  to  try  Sir  Chailes  Lucas  and  Sir 
George  Lisle  on  a  false  cliaige  of  having  broken  their  parole,  and  condemned  them 
to  be  executed.  Accordingly,  at  seven  the  same  evening,  they  were  brought  out 
to  a  grassy  spot  under  the  castle  near  the  wall,  and  in  the  presence  of  Ireton, 
Rainshorowe  and  Walley,  were  shot  by  three  files  of  nmsketeers.  Sir  Charles 
Lucas,  who  was  a  vonnger  brother  of  Lord  Lucas,  and  belonged  to  the  town,  was 
the  first  to  suffer,  and  next  his  comrade.  Evelyn,  in  his  Diary,  sjuaks  of  tliest* 
men  as  "valiant  and  noble  persons,"  and  of  their  death  as  a  barbarous  nnirder. 


26o  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

for  wliich,  indeed,  Fairfax,  later  on,  wrote  a  sort  of  defence.  For  ages  after- 
wards a  bare  spot  of  ground  used  to  be  pointed  out  under  the  castle  as  the  scene 
of  the  execution,  upon  which,  it  was  aHirmed,  the  grass  would  not  grow. 

The  most  serious  injury  done  to  the  castle,  far  greater  than  it  sustained  from 
any  siege,  was  perpetrated  in  the  last  century  by  a  certain  John  Wheeley ;  this 
mail  purchased  the  fabric  of  Robert  Norfolk  in  1683,  and  commenced  to  pull  it 
down  for  the  sake  of  the  materials.  Enormous  damage  was  done  at  that  time, 
and  it  is  possible  that  llu'  upper  storey  was  removed.  The  property  has  passed 
through  manv  hands,  and  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  J.  Round,  M.P.  for  Harwich. 

HADLEIGH  {mhwr) 

THE  castle  of  Hadleigh  was  built  on  the  edge  of  the  hilly  lands  in  the  S.  of  the 
county,  where  they  sink  into  the  marshes  bordering  the  N.  side  of  the 
Thames,  almost  opposite  to  the  Isle  of  Sheppey.  It  occupied  the  entire  summit 
of  a  somewhat  loftv  hill  at  the  head  of  a  small  valley,  having  a  picturesque  and 
magnificent  prospect  over  the  Thames  into  Kent,  and  away  to  the  Isle  of  Thanet 
and  the  woodlands,  with  a  view  far  and  wide  over  the  German  Ocean  and  the 
low-lying  lands  of  Essex  in  the  E.  :  a  good  position  for  security  and  defence. 

Hubert  de  Burgh,  the  faithful  adherent  of  King  John,  who  became  Earl  of  Kent 
and  justiciary  of  England,  obtained,  in  1231  (15  Henry  III.),  a  licence  to  fortify  and 
crenellate,  and  as  the  execution  of  the  work  usually  followed  immediately  after  the 
grant,  it  may  be  assumed  that  this  is  the  date  of  the  erection  by  him  of  the 
castle.  Little  is  known  of  the  history  of  this  once  noble  structure.  After  the 
disgrace  of  Hubert  de  Burgh  it  was  seized  by  the  Crown  and  became  in  turn 
the  possession  of  various  persons.  In  1268  Robert  de  Thaney  was  its  custodian, 
and  in  1299  Edward  II.  consigned  the  castle  and  park  of  Hadleigh  to  the 
Queen  Margaret.  There  is  a  notice  in  1327  of  a  Geoffry  Pertico  as  formerly 
lord  of  the  castle  and  village,  and  nothing  further  appears  about  it  till  the  year 
1400,  when  Aubrey  de  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford  {sec  Hedixgh.am),  died  seised  of 
the  castle  and  its  appurtenances,  including  a  water  mill,  granted  to  him  for  life 
by  Richard  11.,  with  reversion  to  the  Crown.  In  1405,  Humphrey,  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  possessed  the  castle,  and  caused  it  to  be  well  stored  with  military  equip- 
ments, in  1452,  Henry  VI.  granted  castle  and  manor  to  his  brother,  Edmund  of 
Hadham,  Earl  of  Richmond,  and  they  remained  attached  to  the  Crown  until 
Henry  VIII.  gave  them  to  his  forsaken  Queen,  Anne  of  Cleves,  for  her  mainten- 
ance. In  1552,  Edward  VI.  granted  them  to  Lord  Riche  and  his  heirs,  from  whom 
they  have  passed  in  regular  descent  to  the  families  of  St.  John  and  Bernard. 

The  plan  of  this  fortress  differs  greatly  from  the  usual  Norman  design, 
inasmuch  as  there  seems  to  have  been  no  massive  keep  belonging  to  it.  The 
trace  of  the  enceinte  followed  the  contours  of  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  forms  an 
oval,  enclosing  an  area  under  two  acres  in  extent. 


ESSEX  261 

The  whole  seems  to  have  been  built  of  Kentish  rag.  On  the  N.W.  and  E. 
sides  the  castle  was  defended  by  a  deep  ditch,  and  at  the  N.E.  and  S.E.  corners 
are  the  ruinous  remains  of  two  lofty  towers  ;  the  first  of  these  is  very  nearly 
demolished,  but  the  other  is  sufficiently  perfect  to  show  the  construction  of  the 
rooms  ;  both  were  circular  outwardly  and  hexagonal  within,  and  were  about 
60  feet  in  height.  The  outer  walls  are  4  to  6  feet  thick,  and  are  well  strengtiiened 
with  buttresses.  Along  the  S.W.  front  and  up  to  that  corner  are  remains  of  the 
ol'tices  and  apartments  in  very  strong  masonry,  having  probably  a  rampart  and 
battlements  along  the  top,  as  at  this  part  there  were  no  flanking  towers  ;  there  are 
also  marks  inside  of  the  usual  half-timbered  buildings  against  the  wall,  and  in  the 
course  of  this  wall  there  was  a  semicircular  tower  with  dungeons  underneath. 
The  entrance  was  on  the  X.  side,  where  was  a  large  circular  t<jwer  defending 
the  gate,  now  quite  vanished,  which  acted  possibly  as  the  keep  ;  there  was  also 
a  circular  flanking  tower  on  the  X.  front.  .Among  the  reports  of  the  Esse.x 
Archieological  Society,  vol.  ii.,  is  a  drawing  showing  the  present  ruins,  and  one 
is  given  also  by  Buck. 

It  is  not  known  when  the  castle  was  dismantled,  but  it  was  in  ruins  in  the 
time  of  Camden,  who  wrote  in  1593  ;  it  may  have  been  destroyed,  ;is  many 
other  castles  were,  after  Edmimd  of  Hadham's  death  in  1456. 

There  seems  to  have  been  anciently  a  creek  or  stream  navigable  as  far  as  the 
foot  of  the  castle  hill,  whereon  was  situated  the  water  mill,  of  which  there  was 
a  grant  in  1250. 

HEDIXGHAM  {chhj) 

Tins  grand  specimen  of  a  Xcjrman  fortress  derives  most  of  its  interest  fiom 
its  connection  with  the  great  family  of  De  Vere,  Earls  of  Oxford,  to  whom 
it  served  as  their  main  stronghold  and  head  of  their  baronies.  The  name  of  De 
V'ere  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  illustrif)us  in  English 
history  ;  it  was  indeed  long  ago  claimed  that  no  king  in  Christendom  had  such  a 
subject  as  Oxford,  and  this  castle  was  the  cradle  of  the  Oxfords.  The  Manor  of 
Hedinghani  was,  together  with  tliat  nf  Kensington,  in  Middlesex,  and  manv 
another  at  the  time  of  the  Domesday  Survey,  the  property  of  .Alberic  de  \'ere,  a 
noble  Xorman  who  had  followed  the  fortunes  of  Duke  William,  and  received  from 
him  after  the  Conquest  fourteen  different  lordships. 

The  son  of  this  Alberic,  of  the  same  name,  was  made  by  Henry  I.,  the 
Conqueror's  son,  Hereditarv  Lord  (}reat  Chamberlain  of  Englantl,  and  his  son 
Aubrey,  for  his  fidelity  to  the  Empress  Maud,  the  daughter  01  Hemy  I.,  in  her 
contest  with  the  usurper  Stephen,  was  created  Earl  of  Oxford,  the  first  of  that 
splendid  line  of  earls  who  held  their  title  in  uninterrupted  male  succession  for  the 
uneipialled  period  of  five  centuries  and  a  half,  from  1 137  to  1703. 

The  tirst  De  Veres  fought  at    Hastings   and   in   the   IIolv   I.aml.     Thr  si-.duiI 


262  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Earl,  Robert,  was  one  of  the  Magna  Charta  Barons,  while  his  son  and  successor, 
wiien  only  twenty-tiirec  years  of  age,  fought  with  Simon  de  Montfort  on  the 
popular  side  at  the  battle  of  Lewes.  John,  the  seventh  earl,  was  at  Crefy,  and  held 
hi"h  command  under  the  Black  Prince  at  Poictiers.  His  immense  possessions 
were  inherited  by  Robert,  ninth  earl,  the  favourite  of  Richard  II.,  who  married 
the  granddaughter  of  Edward  III.,  and  was  the  first  Marquess  ever  created  in 
England.  In  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  the  De  Veres  espoused  the  Lancastrian  cause 
with  nuich  constancy,  and  suffered  thereby  both  in  person  and  estate.  John,  the 
twelfth  earl,  and  Aubrey,  his  eldest  son,  were  tried  by  Edward  IV.,  in  1461,  for 
corresponding  with  Queen  Margaret,  and  being  convicted  they  were  both  beheaded 
the  same  day  on  Tower  Hill.  His  second  son  John,  succeeding  as  thirteenth  earl, 
during  the  reverses  of  the  House  of  York,  bore  the  sword  before  Henry  VI.  at  his 
coronation,  in  1470,  and  was  called  by  Queen  Margaret  "the  anchor  of  her  house." 
He  was  a  brave  and  able  soldier,  and  at  the  battle  of  Barnet  commanded  a  wing 
of  the  army  of  his  brother-in-law,  Warwick  the  King-maker  ;  after  that  disastrous 
field  he  escaped  to  France,  where  he  got  into  trouble,  and  was  imprisoned  bv  the 
Yorkists  for  eleven  years.  But  in  1485  we  find  him  at  the  side  of  Richard  on  his 
landing  at  Milford  Haven,  and  it  was  to  Oxford,  who  at  Bosworth  commanded  the 
van,  or  main  attack,  with  the  archers,  that  Henry  owed  in  great  measure  his  success 
at  that  crowning  victory  of  the  Red  Rose.  The  King  whom  he  had  thus  ably 
assisted  to  mount  the  throne  of  England  conferred  rewards  and  honours  upon 
him,  and  restored  to  him  the  office  of  Lord  Great  Chamberlain  ;  but  this  did  not 
save  him  in  later  years  from  bad  treatment  at  Henry's  hands  ;  and  it  happened 
thus,  as  the  story  is  told  by  Bacon.  Living  at  Hedingham  in  princely 
magnificence,  Henry  VII.  was  sumptuously  entertained  by  Oxford;  "and  at  his 
departure,  his  lordship's  livery  servants,  ranged  on  both  sides,  made  an  avenue 
for  the  King,  which  attracting  his  highness's  attention,  he  called  out  to  the  earl, 
and  said,  'My  lord,  I  have  heard  much  of  your. hospitality  ;  but  it  is  greater  than 
the  speech.  These  handsome  gentlemen  and  yeomen,  which  I  see  on  both  sides 
of  me,  are  surely  your  menial  servants?'  The  earl  smiled  and  said,  'It  may  please 
your  grace,  they  were  not  for  mine  ease  :  they  are  most  of  them  my  retainers,  that 
are  come  to  do  me  service  at  such  a  time  as  this  ;  and  chiefly  to  see  your  Grace.' 
The  King  started  a  little  and  rejoined,  '  By  my  faith,  my  lord,  I  thank  you  for  my 
good  cheer,  but  I  may  not  endure  to  have  my  laws  broken  in  my  sight  ;  my 
attorney  must  speak  with  you.'  It  is  added  that  this  affair  cost  the  earl  eventually 
no  less  than  15,000  marks  (;(;io,ooo),  in  the  shape  of  compromise."  This  was 
"that  villanous  tine"  of  which  Horace  Walpole  writes.  It  is  this  earl  whom 
Shakespeare  brings  on  the  stage,  and  who  also  forms  one  of  the  characters  in  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  "Anne  of  Geierstein."  He  died  in  1513.  When  John,  fourteenth 
earl,  succeeded  he  was  offered  ^^'i 2,000  a  year  for  his  estates  without  their  castles, 
houses  and  demesnes. 

In  Elizabeth's  time  the  seventeenth  earl,  Edward   de  W-re,  was  a  nobleman 


essf:x 


263 


k 


famous  hotli  in  literature  and  in  his  military  exploits  ;   he  was  one  of  the  wits  of 
that  intellectual  period,  and  he  held  a  command  in  tiie  fleet  equipped  to  oppose 
the  Armada  in  15SS.     Yet  he  it  was  wiio  squandered  the  property  and  alienated 
the  lands.     Morant,  in  his  "  History  of  Essex,"  says  that  his  motive  in  effecting  this 
was  to  spite  his  father-in- 
law,   Lord   Burleigh,    who 
had  not  interfered  t(J  save 
Oxford's    great    friend, 
Howard,  Duke  of  Xortolk, 
when  arraigned  for  treason 
in    the    matter    of     Mary 
Queen     of      Scots.       He 
separated    from    his    wile, 
who  died  soon  after,  and 
married    Elizabeth   Trent- 
ham,   of     Staffordshire. 
Hedingli.un  he  suitl,  hav- 
ing   dismantled    and    de- 
stroyed a  great  part  of  the 
structure    in    1592,    when 
this     estate    was     bought 
again    by  Lord    Burleigh. 
After   his  death,  in    1604, 
his  son  Henry,  eighteenth 
earl,  dying   without  issue, 
the  De  Vere  estates  were 
acquired    by    his    widow 
and  passed  into  the  Trent- 
ham    family,    witii    whom 
they  remained  until  1713, 

when    they  were    sold    to 

an  old  Lancashire  family, 

named     .A^iiurst,    from 

whom  the  castle  again  passed,  by  marriage,  to  the  family  of  its  present  possessor, 

Mr.  James  H.  A.  Majendie.     The  estate  and  castle  of    Hedingham  were  exposed 

for  sale  during  1S93,  but   unsuccessfully. 

To  conclude  tiie  history,  the  title  of  Earl  of  Oxford  became  extinct  on  the  death 

of  the  twentieth  earl  in  1703,  the  last  two  possessors  of  tlie  title  dying  in  poverty. 

And  in  that  family  there  had  been  four  Knights  of  tlie  Garter  ! 

Horace   Walpole   wrote:    "Hedingham    Castle    is    now   shrunk   to   one  vast, 

curious  tower,  that  stands  on  a  sp.icious  moimt  raised  on  a  high  hill  with  a  large 
d.ite  of    its  erection   is  not  known  precisely,  but   the  style  is  pure 


HEDINGHAM 


foss. 


Thi 


264  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Xormaii,  resembling  th;it  of  Rochester  and  the  Tower  of  London,  both  wliicli 
castles  were  built  by  the  direct  order  of  the  Conqueror. 

Besides  tlie  j^reat  central  tower,  or  keep,  the  remains  consist  of  a  brick  bridge 
over  the  ditch,  of  Perpendicular  work,  erected  possibly  by  John,  thirteenth  earl,  after 
his  restoration,  and  a  few  traces  of  the  walls  and  towers  surrounding  the  inner  court, 
with  some  earthworks  on  the  N.E.  of  the  garden.  A  drawing  of  1665  shows 
another  large  brick  tower  of  four  storeys  inside  the  moat,  this  being  the  gatehouse, 
liaviii"  octagonal  towers  at  the  corners,  and  connecting  walls  with  round  flanking 
towers,  all  of  which  have  disappeared,  having  been  dismantled  by  warrant  of  the 
thirteenth  earl  in  1592.  The  whole  was  placed  on  the  top  of  a  steepish  hill, 
surrounded  bv  a  moat,  and  having  an  encircling  fortified  wall,  enclosing  about 
three   acres. 

The  great  keep  rises  to  a  height  of  no  feet,  with  walls  12  feet  thick,  which  are 
formed  of  rubble,  composed  of  flints  and  rough  stone  embedded  in  mortar,  and 
faced  with  excellent  oolite  ashlar,  which  was  brought  from  Northamptonshire  ; 
the  facing  stones  have  been  prepared  and  laid  with  extreme  regularity  and 
neatness.  At  each  corner  is  a  slightly  projecting  pilaster  tower,  two  of  these  still 
terminating  in  their  turrets,  which  surmounted  the  roof  and  battlements.  The 
original  entrance  to  the  keep  was  on  the  west  side  ;  it  is  attained  by  an  external 
flight  of  stairs  leading  to  the  large  round  headed  doorway  on  the  first  floor,  and 
has  Norman  zigzag  ornamentation,  as  in  the  case  of  Castle  Rising.  The  interior 
consists  of  four  storeys,  the  second  of  these  being  the  most  honourable,  and 
containing  the  great  hall,  where  probably  occurred  the  scene  between  Henry  \'1I. 
and  the  thirteenth  earl  already  related.  This  is  a  noble  room  and  in  good 
preservation,  being  spanned  by  a  beautiful  arch  of  line  masonry  28  feet  across, 
said  to  be  the  largest  Norman  arch  in  England,  sustaining  the  beams  of  the  floor 
above.  As  in  the  similar  hall  of  the  White  Tower  in  London,  there  is  a  gallery 
contrived  in  the  thickness  of  the  walls  running  around  the  entire  floor.  The 
fourth  floor  probably  contained  sleeping  apartments,  and  above  is  the  platform 
roof  of  the  keep,  aft'ording  a  most  extensive  view  of  the  surrounding  country. 
The  building  was  restored  and  re-roofed  in  1621.  Morant  says  that  the  castle  was 
brought  into  its  present  ruinous  condition  during  the  first  Dutch  war,  in  1666,  in 
order  to  prevent  its  use  as  a  prison  for  foreign  sailors  taken  in  sea-engagements, 
and  to  avoid  the  attendant  troubles  with  the  soldiers  then  recpiired  as  a  garrison. 
Maud,  the  Queen  of  Stephen,  died  here  in  1152,  and  was  taken  thence  for  burial 
to  Faversham. 

When,  in  12 16,  after  the  grant  of  Magna  Charta,  King  John  turned  on  the 
Barons,  prominent  in  whose  ranks  was  Robert,  second  Earl  of  Oxford,  and  laid 
siege  to  Rochester  Castle,  he  also  caused  Hedingham  to  be  besieged,  and  shortly 
obtained  its  surrender ;  but  at  the  King's  death  that  autumn,  Oxford  must  have 
recovered  his  castle,  as  we  find  it  next  year  attacked  and  again  taken  by  the  army 
of  Louis  the  Dauphin  ;  however,  in  the  pacification  that  ensued  after  the  battle 


ESSEX  265 

of  Lincoln,  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  who  was  Marshal  of  England  and  Governor  of 
the  young  King,  obtained  the  restitution  of  Hedingham  to  its  owner.  This  second 
carl  was  bv  name  cxcomnuinicatcd  by  Pope  Innocent  111.  for  his  participation  in 
the  great  work  of  1215,  but  afterwards  received  a  pardon.  Nothing  of  importance 
is  recorded  respecting  the  castle  after  the  above  period  until  the  time  of  John, 
twelfth  earl,  to  whom  the  estates  had  passed  by  quiet  succession  during  nearly 
2},  centuries.  Thev  were  then  forfeited,  but  were  restored  after  liosworth  Field 
U)  his  second  son. 

During  the  life  of  the  seventeenth  earl,  as  we  have  seen,  the  castle  had  become 
dilapidated:  most  of  the  buildings  were  razed  to  the  ground  under  the  earl's 
warrant,  and  the  three  parks,  several  thousands  of  acres  in  extent,  were  divided 
off  and  let.  The  arms  of  De  Vere  are,  quarterly,  gules  and  or,  a  mullet  in  the  lirst 
quarter,  argent. 

I.AXDGUARD  FORT  (mmor) 

IS  actually  on  the  extreme  point  of  Suffolk  on  the  S.E.  although  it  is  con- 
sidered to  be  in  Esse.x.  The  neck  of  land  on  which  this  fort  was  built  is  now 
joined  to  Walton  in  Suffolk,  but,  according  to  conunon  tradition,  the  rivers  Stour 
and  Orwell,  which  unite  at  Harwich,  and  now  How  thence  southwaid  into  the  sea, 
originally  preserved  a  straight  course  eastward  to  tlie  X.  of  this  spit  of  land,  which 
was  then  reversed  and  belonged  to  Esse.\  on  the  S.  Doubtless  great  changes  have 
taken  place  at  the  outfall  of  these  rivers,  both  from  the  large  deposits  brought  down 
by  them,  and  by  the  stress  of  the  sea  acting  on  their  efflux.  An  extensive  tnict  of 
laiul  once  existed  in  this  parish  of  Walton  tiiat  is  now  entirely  washed  away  ;  upon 
it  was  once  a  castle  of  the  Bigods,  which  has  long  been  swallowed  up.  The  fort 
is  so  surrounded  by  the  sea  at  high-water  as  to  become  an  island,  almost  a  mile 
fr(jm  the  shore. 

It  was  hiiill  in  the  time  of  James  I.  for  the  defence  of  Harwich  harbour,  to 
which  port  it  is  inmiediately  opposite  ;  and  the  cost  of  its  construction  was  very 
great  owing  to  the  difficulties  of  the  foundations.  In  recent  times  the  fort  lias 
been  remodelled  and  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  modern  warfare,  both  as  to 
its  armaments  and  in  the  nature  of  its  works. 

In  1667,  the  Dutch  landed  here  with  a  force  of  3000  men  and  attacked  the  lort, 
but  were  beaten  off  and  forced  to  re-emlxirk. 

O  X  Ci -V  \<   {iioii-<:\is/iii/) 

ATOW.X  in  the  S.W.  of  the  cinmty,  on  the   E.  side  of  which,  on  the  N.E. 
of  the  church,  is  a  high  and  vast  artificial  mound  surrounded  by  a  broad 
anddejp  moat,  and  this,  with  other  considerable  works,  formed  the  fortress  (built 
probably  temp.  Henry  I.),  remains  of   which  are  yet  to  be  seen.     Since  Roman 
VOL.  1.  -  I- 


266  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

relics  have  been  dii^  up  here,  it  has  been  thought  that  the  site  was  originally 
one  tliat  was  occupied  at  that  period.  At  the  Domesday  Survey  the  place  was 
lield  by  Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne,  through  whose  granddaughter  Maud,  the 
Queen  of  Stephen,  it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Crown,  in  the  same  way  as 
Pleshy.  Their  son,  William,  Earl  of  ]\Iortain  and  Surrey,  gave  it  to  Richard 
de  Lucy,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England  in  1162,  the  lord  of  Diss,  Norfolk,  who 
obtained  its  erection  into  an  lionour  and  built  the  castle.  When  Henry  II.  was 
carrying  out  his  raid  against  the  castles,  adulterine  and  others,  he  took  this  one 
from  Lucv,  but  it  was  afterwards  restored,  and  came  to  his  daughter  Roesia, 
married  to  Fulbert  de  Dover,  lord  of  Chilham  Castle,  Kent  (ly.;'.)  His  son  Richard 
appears  to  have  taken  his  mother's  name  of  Lucy,  and  in  1 242  the  manor  was  owned 
by  Maud  de  Lucy,  who,  as  a  Royal  ward,  had  been  betrothed  by  King  John  in  1213 
to  Richard  de  Rivers,  from  whose  descendant  John  it  passed  to  Sir  John  de  Sutton, 
and  was  from  him  conveyed  to  Ralph,  Lord  Stafford.  And  so  it  passed,  with  other 
estates,  through  the  Staffords,  Dukes  of  Buckingham,  to  the  time  of  Richard  III., 
who,  after  the  slaughter  of  the  second  duke,  confiscated  the  property.  In  1541 
Henry  VIII.  granted  it  to  George  Harper,  who  sold  it  two  years  after  to  William 
Morice,  in  whose  family  it  continued  for  a  long  period.  During  Elizabeth's  reign 
the  owner,  William  Morice,  pulled  down  the  old  castle,  and  built  instead  a  brick 
mansion  of  three  storeys  outside  the  moat.  This  house,  in  its  turn,  was  destroyed 
in  1744.  From  the  Morices  the  manor  came  by  marriage  and  by  purchase  to  a 
variety  of  proprietors,  being  now  owned  by  Lady  Jane  H.  Swinburne. 

In  1 88 1  some  excavations  on  the  site  discovered  four  massive  flint  arches  and 
a  large  block  of  masonry  which  probably  supported  by  a  post  a  flooring  above  ; 
but  only  a  mere  fragment  of  stonework  remains  above  ground.  Some  Xorman 
relics,  a  spur,  and  a  Saxon  spearhead  were  dug  up. 

PLESHY   (jion-exisknt) 

A\'1LLAGE  in  Mid-Essex,  half-way  between  Chelmsford  and  Dunmow  ;  the 
castle  was  once  the  seat  of  the  Constable  of  England,  the  residence  of 
Thomas  of  Woodstock,  sixth  son  of  Edward  111.,  but  of  it  nothing  now  remains 
except  the  huge  ancient  earthworks  surrounding  the  site,  and  a  fine  brick  bridge 
of  a  single  pointed  arch,  leading  up  to  the  mound  upon  which  stood  the  keep. 

A  Roman  fortification  of  oval  trace,  measuring  nearly  a  mile  in  circumference, 
encircles  the  village,  and  within  it,  at  the  S.  side,  is  this  gigantic  mound,  perhaps 
Roman  also  ;  a  fosse  runs  round  three  sides  of  the  rampart,  on  the  W.,  N.  and  E. 
In  Domesday  the  locality  is  called  Plesinchou,  and  it  was  then  held  from  William  I. 
by  Eustace,  Count  of  Boulogne.  When  his  granddaughter,  Maud,  married  King 
Stephen,  her  father's  great  estates  became  vested  in  the  Crown,  and  Stephen 
conferred  the  castle  on  Geoffrey  de  Magnaville,  or  MandeviUe,  whom  he  created 
Earl  of  Essex   and  Constable  of   the   Tower  of    London.     Geoffrey   espousing. 


ESSEX  267 

hf)\vcvcr,  tlic  cause  of  tlie  Empress  Maud,  was  seized  and  imprisoned  by  the  Kinjj, 
and  only  recovered  liis  liberty  by  the  cession  of  this  castle,  tojjether  with  the 
Tower  and  the  Castle  of  Satl'ron  VV'alden.  By  Henry  II.  the  estates  were  restcjred 
to  his  son  Geolfiey,  who,  dying  in  1167,  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  William,  to 
whom  leave  was  given  to  fortify  a  castle  ;  and  we  may  take  this  as  the  date  of  the 
erection  of  Pleshy.  Here  he  married,  in  iiXo,  Hawise,  daughter  and  heir  to 
William  ic  Gros,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  the  founder  of  Scarborough  Castle,  wluise 
mother  was  Adeliza,  the  daughter  of  the  Conqueror,  and  in  his  wife's  right  William 
Mandeville  obtained  the  Earitloni  of  Albemarle.  He  died  .<./>.  in  1 198,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  second  cousin,  Beatrix  de  Saye,  who  married  Geoffrey 
FitzPiers,  of  Ludgershall,  Wilts.  He  was  Chief  Justice  of  England,  and  was  in 
her  right  made  Earl  of  Esse.x.  His  tw(j  sons  succeeded,  taking  the  name  of 
Mandeville,  and  dying  >./>.,  left  a  sister,  Maud,  married  to  Henry  de  Bohun, 
Earl  of  Hereford,  and  Lord  High  Constable,  who  died  in  i  220,  and  was  followed  bv 
his  son  Humphrey,  called  "  the  good  Earl, "  being  likewise  Earl  of  Esse.x.  Tiie 
honour  and  estate  descended  to  his  grandson,  who  obtained  leave  from  Edward  H., 
in  1320,  to  enclose  a  park  of  150  acres  at  Fleshy.  His  son,  Humphrey,  married 
Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  King  Edward,  widow  of  John,  Earl  Holland,  by  wliom 
he  had  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  all  of  whom  were  ennobled.  One  of  these 
sons  dying  .<./>.  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew  Humphrey  as  Earl  of  Essex,  Hereford, 
Xorthampton  and  Brecknock,  and  as  Lord  High  Constable,  and  he  married  Joan, 
daughter  of  Richard  FitzAlan,  Earl  of  Arundel  and  Surrey,  leaving,  at  his  decease 
in  1372,  two  daughters,  Eleanor  and  ^Liry,  co-heiresses  to  his  immense  estate. 
The  elder,  Eleanor,  married  (3  Hichard  II.),  Thomas  of  Woodstock,  youngest  son 
of  Edward  111.,  created  in  1385  Duke  of  Gloucester,  and  brought  him,  with  many 
other  estates,  the  manor  and  castle  of  Pkshy,  which  became  their  chief  residence. 
Her  sister,  ^Lary,  became  the  wife  of  Henry  of  Bolingbroke  (afterwards  King 
Heiuy  IV.),  and,  in  1399,  Queen  of  England.  This  Duke  of  Gloucester,  being 
uncle  to  Kichard  II.,  and  a  man  greatly  esteemed  for  his  probity,  valour  and 
honour,  opposed  the  pernicious  measures  pursued  by  his  nephew's  evil  counsellors, 
and  endeavoured  to  govern  the  young  King  himself ;  this  was  resented,  and  with 
Richard's  connivance  his  destruction  was  determined  on.  There  are  many  versions 
of  the  fatal  transaction,  the  commonly  received  one,  as  given  by  Froissart,  being 
that,  in  1397,  the  King,  after  hunting  in  P^ssex  at  Havering-atte-Bower,  and  making 
all  the  arrangements,  rode  off  to  Pleshy,  where  he  arrived  at  live  in  the  afternoon, 
and  having  supped  with  the  Duchess  Eleanor,  his  aunt,  and  her  family,  persuaded 
the  Duke  to  accompany  him  back  to  London  to  assist  Iiim  at  a  reception  next  day. 
Gloucester,  suspecting  nothing,  consented,  and  they  rode  together  at  speed 
talking,  till  thev  came  to  Stamford,  where  an  ambush  had  been  prei>ared.  Here 
Kichard  spurred  away  from  his  uncle,  and  there  appeared  the  Earl  Marshal, 
Mowbray,  with  a  band  of  horsemen,  who  arrested  the  Duke  in  the  Kings 
name.     Gloucester  called  loudly  on  his  nephew,  who  rode  off  all  the  faster,  when 


268  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

the  Duke  was  taken  to  Tilbury,  and  thence,  embarking  in  a  small  vessel,  was 
carried  to  Calais  the  second  day.  In  the  castle  here,  as  the  account  says,  "At 
dinner  time  and  when  the  cloth  was  laid,  just  as  he  was  washing  his  hands,  four 
men,  appointed  on  purpose,  rushed  out  of  a  room,  and  casting  a  towel  rtnuid  his 
neck,  drew  it  so  violently,  two  on  each  side,  that  they  threw  him  down  and  strangled 
Iiim."  Kroissart  gives  drawings  of  the  arrest  and  the  murder.  In  this  way  did  King 
Richard  relieve  himself  of  his  uncle's  interference.  The  body  was  brought  over 
and  buried  at  Plesliv,  but  was  afterwards  removed  to  Westminster  Abbey.  The 
estates  were  forfeited  to  the  Crown,  but  the  Duchess  was  allowed  to  enjoy  them 
till  her  death,  which  occurred  two  years  after. 

"What  shall  he  at  Flashy  see 
But  empty  lodgings  and  unfurnish'd  walls, 
Unpeopled  offices,  untrodden  stones  ? 
And  what  cheer  there  for  welcome,  but  my  groans  ? 

***** 
Desolate,  desolate,  will  I  hence,  and  die." 

Richard  II.,  act  i.  sc.  2. 

In  1400,  three  years  later,  John  Holland,  Duke  of  Exeter,  was  beheaded  here 
by  a  mob,  in  revenge  for  his  share  in  the  abduction  and  murder  of  Thomas,  Duke 
of  Gloucester.  After  his  death  the  castle  fell  into  neglect  and  decay,  and  in  1547 
Edward  VI.  alienated  the  manor  for  a  time,  and  the  park  was  purchased  at  the 
end  of  the  century  by  Sir  Robert  Clarke,  a  Baron  of  the  Exchequer.  He  was 
followed  in  1629  by  his  grandson  Robert,  who  built  a  large  house  called  "The 
Lodge,"  pulling  down  the  ancient  castle  for  this  purpose,  and  using  its  materials. 
In  1720  it  was  sold  to  Sir  Willian  Jolyffe,  Knight,  who  devised  it  to  Samuel 
Tufnell,  of  Langleys,  ancestor  of  the  present  proprietor.  The  lodge  was  taken 
down  in  1767. 

The  eaithwoiks  have  an  area  of  about  two  acres,  enclosed  by  a  high  embankment 
with  a  deep  foss  outside,  and  the  mound  is  also  surrounded  by  its  own  very  deep 
ditch.  The  walls  of  the  fortress  appear  to  have  been  partly  built  upon  the  em- 
bankment, and  Leland  says,  "  One  tolde  me  that  muche  of  the  walls  of  Plaschey 
Castle  in  Estsex,  is  made  of  erthe."  The  lofty  bridge  sloping  upwards  to  the 
mound  alone  remains,  and  forms  a  most  picturesque  object.  On  it,  till  of  later 
years,  stood  a  brick  gateway  mantled  with  ivy,  and  in  a  tottering  condition.  The 
site  of  the  home  of  those  great  nobles  and  dames  is  now  a  rabbit  warren. 


&^ 


SAFFRON  WALDEN  {minor) 

THE  town  of  this  name  is  in  the  N.W.  of  the  county,  near  Cambridgeshire, 
the  site  of  the  castle  of  Walden  being  on  the  X.  of  the  town.  Stukeley 
calls  its  situation  the  "  most  beautiful  he  ever  beheld  ;  a  narrow  tongue,"  he  says, 
"shoots  itself  out  like  a  promontory,  encompassed  with  a  valley  in  the  form  of 


ESSEX  269 

:i  horseshoe,  inclosed  by  distant  and  most  delif^htfnl  hilN.  On  the  hottoni  of  the 
tonjtfiie  stands  the  ruins  of  a  castle,  and  on  the  top,  or  extremity,  tlie  church, 
round  wliich,  on  the  side  of  tlie  hill,  and  in  the  valley,  is  the  town  built."  In  176K 
Morant  savs,  "The  keep  and  other  earth  works  remain,  and  some  of  the  walls 
about  30  feet  hi^ii,  on  the  inside  ;  an  hill  called  the  Bury,  adjoiniiif^  to  tlie  castle, 
was  the  mansion  house  of  the  castle." 

At  the  Domesday  Survey,  Geoffrey  de  Maj^naville,  or  Mandcville,  rcmvL-d,  loi 
j^ieat  services  to  the  Conqueror,  iiS  manors,  forty  of  which  were  in  Essex,  and 
among  them  the  town  and  manor  of  W'alden,  which  he  fixed  on  for  his  abode, and 
the  head  of  his  barony,  and  here  he  is  supposed  to  have  commenced  to  build  a 
castle.  He  died  in  1086,  and  his  son  William  succeeded,  who  married  Margaret, 
the  daughter  of  Kudo  Dapifer,  a  companion  of  Duke  William,  who  was  appointed 
(irand  Seneschal  ot  Kiigland,  and  mav  have  built  Colchester  Castle.  His  son 
GeolTrey  was  highly  favoured  by  Stephen,  who  conferred  Pleshy  Manor  on  him 
(where  he  built  that  castle),  and  made  him  Constable  of  the  Tower  of  London,  and 
further,  Earl  (jf  Essex.  He  mairied  Roesia,  daughter  of  anothei"  Essex  magnate, 
-Alberic,  lir^t  Earl  of  Oxfcjrd.  In  spite  of  these  favours  Geoffrey — influenced  most 
probably  by  his  wife  and  her  family,  who  were  steady  supporters  of  the  Empress — 
espoused  the  side  of  Maud,  and  was  seized  and  imprisoned  bv  Stephen,  nor  did 
he  regain  his  liberty  until  he  had  delivered  over  to  the  King  his  castles  of  Walden, 
Pleshy,  and  the  Tower,  in  i  143.  Thereon  he  took  to  reprisals  by  ravaging  the 
demesnes  of  the  King,  and  is  said  to  have  been  killeil  in  i  144,  being  shot  in  the 
head  by  an  arrow,  while  besieging  Stephen's  castle  of  Uiirwell  in  Cambridgeshire. 
He  had  seized  and  plundered  the  abbey  of  Ramsey  in  Hunts,  for  which  he  had 
been  exconmumicated,  and  at  his  death  '^onie  Knights-Templar,  obtaining  his  body, 
put  it  into  a  leaden  coflin,  and  hung  it  on  a  crooked  tree  in  their  orchard  at  the 
old  Temple  (Holborn),  but  when  the  ban  was  taken  off  they  buried  it,  probably 
in  the  churchyard  of  the  "  New  "  Teiuple.     (Morant.) 

He  had  four  >ons,  the  second  of  whom,  named  Geoffrey,  succeeded  him,  being 
restored  to  his  possessions  and  title  by  Henry  II.;  and  was  followed  by  his 
brother,  William,  a  Crusader,  as  third  earl.  He  died  s./^.,  when  the  estates  went  to 
his  surviving  cousin,  Beatrix,  daughter  of  his  father's  sister  Beatrix,  who  had 
married  William  de  Saye.  Tlus  lady,  Beatrix  de  Save,  was  married  to  Geoffrey 
FitzPiers,  Chief  Justice  of  England,  one  of  King  John's  councillors,  by  whom 
he  was  advised  not  to  submit  to  the  Pope  ;  he  was  sheriff  of  Essex  and  Herts, 
and  died  in  121 2,  leaving  three  sons,  two  of  whom  died  uiunarried,  and,  the 
third  being  Dean  ot  Wolverhampton,  the  castles  and  m.uior^  of  W.ilden  and 
Pleshy,  with  the  rest  of  the  lands,  went  to  their  sister,  Maud,  who  was  the  wife  of 
the  great  noble,  Henry  de  Bohun,  Earl  of  Hereford,  and  Lord  High  Constable  of 
England,  his  wife  also  having  the  earldom  of  Essex  ent.iiled  on  her.  Maud,  the 
countess,  had,  like  her  brothers,  adopted  their  grandmother  Beatrix's  name  of 
Mandeville,  which  was  derived  from  a  ioc.ililv  in  Normandv,  and  it  is  noteworthv 


oyo  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

tli;it,  Geoffrey  dc  M;iiulcvillc  Iiaving  been  the  ancient  proprietor  of  Kiniholton 
Castle,  Hunts,  wlien  that  estate  was  purchased  by  the  Montague  family  from  the 
Winglields,  and  Sir  Henry  Montague  was  raised  to  the  peerage  in  the  reign  of 
James  1.,  this  name  of  Mandeville  was  adopted  for  the  second  title,  as  it  is  now 
of  the  Dukes  of  Manchester,  their  descendants.     (Sir  KiMBOi.TOX.) 

Then  the  son  of  de  Bohun  and  Countess  Maud,  Humphrey,  "the  good  Earl," 
succeeded  as  Earl  of  Essex  to  all  the  lands  and  Walden  (to  fortify  which  he  had  a 
licence  in  1347)  passed,  as  Pleshy  ((/.r.),  to  Thomas,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  killed  in 
1397  by  his  nephew  Richard  11.  ;  and  upon  the  partition  of  this  noble  inheritance 
(temp.  Henry  \'.)  Walden  fell  to  the  King,  and  became  merged  in  the  Duchy  of 
Lancaster.  It  remained  with  the  Crown  until  it  was  granted  by  Henry  VIII.  to 
Thomas  Audlev,  and  from  the  Lords  Audley,  the  castle  and  manor,  with  other  large 
estates  in  the  district,  devolved  on  the  noble  family  of  Howard,  Earls  of  Suffolk. 
In  1777  both  manor  and  castle  belonged  to  Sir  John  G.  Griffin,  having  descended 
to  him  from  one  of  the  Howard  heiresses. 

The  drawing  given  in  Grose's  "Antiquities  "  was  sketched  in  1787,  and  shows  the 
ciicular  wall  of  a  shell  keep  25  feet  high,  stripped  of  its  ashlar  facing  and  standing 
on  a  slight  eminence.  The  masonry  that  remains  is  merely  a  mass  of  flint  con- 
crete, and  there  is  a  tower  which  has  been  repaired  of  late.  The  only  architectural 
features  are  some  semicircular  recessed  arches  in  the  keep  basement.  No  history 
of  interest  is  attached  io  this  Castle.  The  modern  tower  was  erected  by  Lord 
Howard  de  Walden.  The  hollow  space  on  the  \\'.  formed  the  prisoners'  cell, 
which,  until  the  upper  earth  was  removed,  in  1780,  lay  below  the  ground  level. 

TILBURY  FORT  (;«///or) 

IN  the  parish  of  West  Tilbury,  upon  the  N.  bank  of  the  Thames,  opposite 
Gravesend.  Some  ancient  work  is  said  to  have  stood  here  in  1402,  but  the 
original  blockhouse  was  erected  by  Henrv  \'lll.  in  1539,  at  the  same  time  that 
similar  defences  were  placed  by  him  on  the  south  coasts  to  protect  them  from  an 
expected  hostile  invasion  by  the  Catholic  Powers.  This  work  was  afterwards 
enlarged  into  a  regular  fortification  by  Charles  II.  after  the  daring  attack  made  in 
1667  by  the  Dutch,  who  sailed  up  the  Thames  and  burnt  three  English  men-of-war 
at  Chatham  {see  Upxor).  But  the  chief  interest  of  this  fortress  is  derived  from  the 
visit  paid  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1588,  to  review  the  troops  assembled  at  Tilbury 
under  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  to  meet  the  anticipated  attack  by  the  forces 
of  the  Spanish  Armada.  The  fort  had  been  strengthened  by  the  Italian  engineer, 
Gianibelli,  and  the  English  army,  hurriedly  got  together,  was  encamped  near  the 
church  of  W.  Tilbury,  at  some  little  distance  from  the  river,  where  remains  of  earth- 
works are  still  shown  as  traces  of  that  occupation,  but  which  may  possiblv  have  a 
far  earlier  origin. 

When  in  July  of  that  year  the  warning  beacons  flashed  the  alarm  of  war  to 


ESSEX  271 

London,  Tilbury  was  chosen  for  the  asseniblinjj  of  the  army  intended  to  cover  the 
capital.  It  was  the  lowest  point  where  the  Thames  could  be  easily  crossed,  and 
no  one  could  tell  on  which  side  of  the  river  the  enemy  miyhl  approacii.  I^eicesfer 
li.ul  I'l.ooo  iiKii  with  him  there,  while  30,000  were  forminj^  rapidly  in  his  rear 
Irom  the  Midland  counties. 

The  patriotic  address  bv  Klizabeth  to  her  soldiei>  i>  .1  model  fcjr  speeches  of. 
this  nature,  and  should  bear  repeating  ;  it  was  as  follows  :  "  My  lovinjj  people, — 
We  have  been  persuaded,  by  some  that  aie  careful  of  our  safety,  to  take  heed 
how  we  commit  ourselves  to  armed  nuiltitudcs,  for  fear  of  treachery  ;  but  I  assure 
you  that  I  do  not  live  to  distrust  my  lovinj^  and  faithful  people.  Let  tvrants  fear.  1 
have  always  so  behaved  myself  that,  imder  (jod,  I  have  placed  my  chiefesl  strenj^h 
and  safeguard  in  the  loyiii  hearts  and  j^oodwill  of  my  subjects.  And  I  am  there- 
fore come  amongst  you,  as  you  see  at  this  tiniL*,  not  for  any  recreation  or  disport, 
but  being  resolved,  in  the  midst  and  heat  of  battle,  to  live  or  die  amidst  you  all; 
to  lay  down,  for  my  God,  and  for  my  kingdom  and  my  people,  my  honour  and  my 
blood,  even  in  the  dust.  1  know  1  li.ivc  llic  body  but  of  a  weak  and  feeble  woman, 
but  I  iiavc  the  heart  and  stomach  of  a  King,  and  of  a  King  (jf  England  too,  and 
tlunk  tuul  scorn  that  Parma  or  Spain,  or  anv  prince  of  Europe,  should  dare  tc;  in- 
vade the  borders  of  my  realm,  to  which,  rather  than  any  dishonoiu'  should  grow 
by  me,  1  myself  will  take  up  ai  ul•^,  1  myself  will  be  your  general,  judge  and  record 
of  every  one  of  your  virtues  in  the  held.  I  know  already  for  your  forwardness 
you  have  deserved  crowns  ;  and  we  do  assure  you,  on  the  word  of  a  prince,  they 
shall  be  duly  paid  you.  In  the  meantime,  my  lieutenant-general  shall  be  in  my 
stead,  than  whom  nevei"  prince  commanded  more  noble  or  worthy  subjects  ;  not 
doubting  but  by  your  obedience  to  my  general,  by  your  concord  in  the  camp,  and 
your  valour  in  the  held,  we  shall  shortly  have  a  most  famous  victory  over  those 
enemies  of  my  God,  of  my  kingdom,  and  of  my  people." 

Since  the  seventeenth  century  various  alterations  and  additions  have  been  made 
to  the  fortress  ;  it  is  surrounded  with  a  double  wet  ditch,  the  inner  one  being  180 
feet  wide,  and  having  a  strong  counterscarp.  The  face  of  the  curtain  fronting  the 
river  contains  the  entrance,  or  water-gate,  and  before  this  is  a  gun  platform.  The 
bastions  at  the  angles  are  large  and  command  the  country  in  rear,  which  indeed 
can  bv  means  of  sluices  be  readilv  iiuuulated. 


.1  il.\'^....V..l 


Suffolk 


BUNGAY   ijmuor) 

THE  river  \V:ivenev,  which  forms  tlie  boundary  between  Suffolk  and 
Norfolk  towards  the  E.,  encloses  with  a  loop  a  small  tract  of 
elevated  ground,  projected,  as  it  were,  into  the  northern  county, 
upon  which  stand  the  town  and  castle  of  Bungay. 
Koger  Higod  obtained  this  manor  at  the  same  time  as  Framlingham,  soon 
after  tlie  Domesday  Survey,  but  it  is  not  known  whether  it  was  he  or  his  im- 
mediate successor  who  founded  the  castle  here.  Hugh  Bigod,  Earl  of  Xorfolk, 
who  is  termed  "  inquietissimus,"  having  espoused  the  cause  of  the  riglitful  heir  to 
the  Crown,  the  Empress  iNIaud,  in  1140,  Stephen  came  against  him  and  took  his 
Castle  of  "  Bunie,"  but  afterwards  received  Bigod  into  favour  again,  and  restored 
tiie  castle,  for  which  the  earl  was  made  to  s'^fter  on  Henry's  coming  to  the 
throne,  when  his  castle  and  his  dignities  were  taken  away,  but  again  for  a  brief 
period  only,  as  he  was  reinstated  in  1163.  Ten  years  after,  when  Queen  Eleanor, 
in  revenge  for  lier  wrongs,  had  stirred  up  her  three  eldest  sons  to  revolt  against 
their  father,  Earl  Bigod  declared  for  their  side,  and  received  in  his  castle  of 
Framlingiiam  tlie  rebel  Earl  of  Leicester  and  his  armv  of  Flemings  for  some 
days,  wiien  on  their  way  to  attack  Haughly  Castle  {q.v.). 

For  tliis  repeated  disaffection  he  was  made  to  pay  de.irly,  wlien,  in   1174,  the 


SUFFOLK  273 

King,  after  Iiis  sliamcfiil  penance  at  Becket's  shrine,  proceeded  in  victorious 
progress  against  his  rebellious  barons.  He  came  lirst  against  the  Earl  of  Norfolk 
and  took  F"ranilingham,  after  which  he  prepared  to  attack  the  earl's  last  strong- 
hold of  Bungay.  The  old  ballad  declares  liow  Bigod  retreated  tliither  in  all 
conlidence  : 

••  Hunli  Bi^'od  was  lord  of  Bungay  tower, 
And  a  merry  lord  was  he, 
So  away  he  rode  on  his  berry-black  steed 

And  sang  with  licence  and  glee, 
'  Were   I  in  my  castle  of  Bungay, 

Upon  the  river  of  Waveney, 
I  would  ne  care  for  the  King  of  Cockney.' " 

However,  when  Henry  the  King  sat  down  before  this  castle  and  summoned  it, 
Hovenden  relates  that,  though  the  Earl  had  a  garrison  of  500  men  in  it,  so  many 
lost  heart  and  deserted  that  he  was  left  to  make  what  terms  he  could  with  his 
Sovereign,  and  these,  when  settled,  were  the  payment  by  him  of  1000  marks 
(perhaps  equal  in  value  to  ;^2o,ooo  of  our  currency),  and  the  demolition  of  his 
castles.     Then  he  went  to  the  Crusade,  and  died  three  years  later. 

The  lands  and  honours  of  the  earldom  were  restoied  to  Roger  Bigod,  the  son 
of  Earl  Hugh,  by  Richard  I.,  in  1189,  on  the  payment  of  another  1000  marks,  but 
this  castle  remained  in  its  ruined  state  for  nearly  100  years,  when  another  R<)ger 
Bigod  obtained  a  licence  to  crenellate  his  house  built  on  the  former  site  ;  and  it  is 
the  ruin  of  his  castle  which  we  now  see.  He  left  the  place  to  his  widow  Alice, 
and  being  n./-.,  after  her  to  King  Edward  I.,  dying  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of 
that  King.  He  thus  disinherited  his  brother,  intentionally,  it  is  s;iid,  on  account 
of  being  diumed  by  him  for  a  debt.  In  13 12,  Edward  II.  seized  all  the  lands  and 
castles,  cS:c.,and  bestowed  them  on  his  brother,  Thomas  de  Brotherton,  fifth  son  of 
Edward  I.,  who  died  in  1321^,  leaving  two  daughters,  the  elder  of  whom,  Alice, 
carried  Bungay  to  her  husband,  Edward  de  Montacute;  and  his  daughter  Joan, 
born  here  134S,  married  William  de  I'fford,  Earl  of  Suilolk,  who,  on  .Montacute's 
death  (35  Edward  III.),  became  owner  of  Bungay.  But  he  evidently  did  not  use 
this  fortress,  as  in  1382  it  is  returned  as  both  old  and  ruinous. 

The  property  and  castle  afterwards  passed  to  the  Howard  family,  and  from 
them  in  the  last  centurv  to  an  inhabitant  of  Bungay,  named  Mickleborough,  who 
sold  it  to  Mrs.  Bonhote,  the  authoress  of  a  novel,  called,  "  Bimgay  Castle. " 
Rooms  were  then  titted  up  mi  the  old  keep,  which  the  owner  used  as  a 
summer  residence,  but  she  sold  it,  about  1800,  to  Charles,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who 
was  desirous  to  retain  this  ancient  home  of  his  ancestors. 

The    existing    ruins   are    those    of    the    second    castle    rebuilt   in    the  reign  of 

Edward  1.     They  consist  of  an  octagonal  enclosure  of  m;Lssive  walls,  with  two 

low  circular  towers  ;  in  the  midst  are  the  remains  of  the  keep,  a  building  54  feel 

square,  but  all  is  much  shattered.     Below  the  mound  on  which  the  castle  stands 

VOL.  I.  2  M 


274  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

arc  some  hir^'c  earthworks,  which  tonncd  tlic  outer  defences,  and  wliich  appear  to 
have  been  originally  part  of  a  British  or  Saxon  entrenchment,  occupied  later  by 
Norman  works,  as  was  the  case  at  Castle  Acre,  Norfolk,  at  Eye,  and  elsewhere  in 
very  many  places. 

Suckling  gives  a  drawing  of  the  two  circular  towers,  almost  disengaged,  and 
ruined  at  top,  which  flanked  the  gatehouse,  the  passage  through  which  was  once 
supported  by  a  series  of  sharply  pointed  arches.  The  towers  are  built  solid  for  a 
certain  height,  and  then  contain  small  rooms  which  are  not  lighted  even  by 
loopholes.  The  walls  of  the  keep  are  standing  in  some  places,  lo  to  12  feet  in 
thickness,  in  the  centre  of  the  keep  is  a  deep  well  of  mineral  water  ;  this  citadel 
and  the  inner  ward  are  on  elevated  ground,  and  command  the  moats  and  the 
outer  defences  of  earthen  ramparts  down  to  the  river.  Numerous  fragments  of 
masonry  are  found  scattered  throughout  the  castle  grounds.  A  ditch  on  the  S. 
side,  now  dry,  once  communicated  with  the  river,  and  there  was  a  ford  near  where 
the  Cock  Bridge  now  stands  commanded  by  this  castle,  being  perhaps  its  original 
misoii  il'riir. 

In  the  "Proceedings"  of  the  Suffolk  Archaeological  Institute  for  1891  is  given 
the  result  of  recent  e.xcavations  at  this  castle,  whose  foundations  show  that  the 
existing  keep  was  erected  on  the  site  of  an  older  building.  The  castle  well  was 
found  in  the  N.W.  corner  of  the  building,  and  the  staircase  in  the  N.E.  angle  ; 
also  two  air  shafts  were  discovered  on  the  S.  side  leading  into  an  underground 
chamber,  14  feet  square,  which  mav  have  been  for  storage  of  fresh  water,  the  well 
being  of  mineral  composition. 

BURGH   (mmor) 

WHP2KE  the  waters  of  the  Yare  river  and  the  Waveney  unite,  in  the  extreme 
X.E.  of  the  county,  to  form  the  Brevdon  Broad,  there  are  on  the  Suffolk 
shore  the  splendid  remains  of  a  Roman  camp,  supposed  to  be  the  station  of 
Garianonum,  and  being,  with  Silchester,  Pevensey,  and  Richborough,  the  most 
perfect  remains  of  a  Roman  wt)rk  in  England.  Its  ancient  name  was  Cnobers- 
burg,  and  it  is  said  by  Camden  to  have  once  contained  a  Saxon  monastery  ;  but 
there  are  no  remains  of  this,  nor  of  the  mediieval  castle  erected  in  it  in  the  twelfth 
century.  Ralph,  the  son  of  Roger  de  Burgh,  held  this  castle  and  the  manor  by 
sergeanty,  and  after  him  Gilbert  de  Wiseham  had  them.  At  last  they  were 
surrendered  into  the  hands  of  Henry  III.,  who  in  his  twentieth  year  gave  the 
property  to  the  priory  of  Bromholm  in  Norfolk,  where  it  continued  till  the 
dissolution  of  the  monasteries.  Elizabeth  presented  it  to  William  Roberts,  who 
sold  the  place,  and  it  was  purchased  in  late  years  by  Sir  J.  P.  Boileau,  Baronet,  for 
the  purpose  of  careful  preservation.  Grose  asserts  that  the  remains  of  the 
monastery  of  Fursans  are  to  be  found  a  short  distance  N.  of  the  walls. 

The  ruins  consist  of  the  walls,  forming  the  three  sides  of  a  rectangular  enclosure 


SUFFOLK  275 

of  nearly  5  acres  ;  the  estuary,  whose  waters  in  early  ages  probably  closed  the  \V. 
front,  was  sufficient  protection  on  that  side,  as  it  is  not  certain  that  any  wall 
existed  tiicre.  Tiie  X.  and  S.  wails  measure  each  107  yards,  aiul  that  on  the  E.  is 
214  yards  li>n;^,  and  t)  teet  thick,  with  .1  heij^ht  of  14  feet.  At  each  of  the  corners, 
and  alonj^  the  E.  face,  are  nuiral  towers,  foin-  in  all,  and  one  (»n  the  N.  and  S. 
sides,  for  flankinj^  purposes.  These  are  built  solid,  and  are  14  feet  in  diameter ; 
thev  are  disengaged  from  the  wall,  hut  are  lionded  into  it  at  the  top.  The  one  on 
the  X.  side  has  fallen,  and  is  shown  to  have  been  built  upon  oak  planking  laid  on 
a  bed  of  concrete.  A  ditch  defended  the  three  land  sides,  the  earth  of  which  was 
made  into  a  mound  in  the  S.W.  corner  for  the  Pr:etorium.  Here,  perhaps,  stood 
the  keep  of  Ralph  de  Burgh,  whose  name  the  castle  iiore.  Xothing  more  seems 
to  be  known  about  it. 


CLARE   (minor) 

AT  the  town  of  that  name  on  the  river  Stour,  which  parts  Suffolk  from  Esse.x 
on  the  S.W.,  are  a  few  fragments  of  masonry  which  constitute  the  sole 
remains  of  a  great  castle  of  the  mighfv  family  of  De  Clare  and  Tonbridge, 
Earls  of  Gloucester,  &c.  Landing  from  the  railway  the  traveller  hnds  himself  at 
once  within  the  precincts  of  the  old  fortress,  so  long  the  home  of  these  Fitz- 
Gilberts. 

The  castle  occupied  a  range  of  artiticial  earthworks  of  Sa.xon  or  perhaps  of 
earlier  origin,  situated  at  the  conflux  of  the  Chilton  stream  and  the  Stour. 

Originally  the  fortress  had  Iwo  irregularly  shaped  courts  separated  by  a  wide 
and  deep  ditch,  commanded  bv  an  immense  mound,  or  burh,  100  feet  in  height,  in 
the  X.W.  angle  of  the  inner  court,  and  enclosed  by  a  strong  wall.  The  whole 
work  covered  an  area  of  about  twenty  acres,  and  was  well  surrounded  by  water 
defences. 

A  fragment  of  the  outer  wall  of  a  shell  keep,  circular  within  and  polygonal  on 
the  exterior,  supported  by  buttresses,  exists  on  the  top  of  this  mound,  up  which  a 
narrow  winding  path  leads  ;  it  somewhat  resembles  the  keep  of  Castle  Acre,  in 
Xorfolk.  Portions  also  of  the  surrounding  walls  remain  along  the  X.  sick-  ol  tlu- 
area,  and  on  the  opposite  side  :  and  this  is  all. 

There  is  mention  in  Saxon  times,  early  in  the  tenth  centurv,  of  a  fortrL»<s  here 
and  of  a  chapel  therein,  dedicated  to  St.  John  Haptist. 

Clare  was  one  of  ninety-live  lordships  given  by  the  Ct)nqueror  to  his  half- 
brother,  Richard  Fil/Cilberf,  who  crossed  with  him  Iroui  Xormandy  and  fought 
at  Hastings.  Krom  this  manor  he  obtained  the  n.une  of  De  Clare,  but  the 
possession  of  Tonbridge,  in  Kent,  gave  the  family  their  usual  appellation,  and  their 
histop)'  is  given  in  the  memoir  of  that  fortress,  (".ilberl.  the  son  of  Richard, 
annexed  the  chapel  of  St.  John  to  tiie  Abbev  of  Hec  in  Xormandy  by  deed  in 
lOQC.     One  of  his  sons  founded  Tintern  Abbey,  and  an  unmed.ate  descendant 


2^6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

was  Ricliard,  known  as  Strongbow,  the  conqueror  of  Ireland.  Gilbert  was  made 
Earl  of  Pembroke  bv  Stephen,  and  his  eldest  son  Richard  was  the  i^rst  of  his 
family  to  be  called  De  Clare,  being  created  Earl  of  Hertford;  he  died  in  1139. 
The  sixth  Earl,  Richard,  Earl  also  of  Gloucester,  jure  ii.voris,  was  one  of  the 
guardians  of  the  Great  Charter,  and  died  here  1211.  Of  Gilbert,  the  Red  Earl,  of 
Henry  lll.'sreign,  much  is  noted  regarding  Tonbridge  (q.v.),  and  other  castles. 
He  was  a  turbulent  and  violent  noble,  but  Prince  Edward  seems  to  have  stood 
his  friend,  and  gave  him  his  daughter  Joan  in  mairiage.  By  the  early  death  of  his 
son  at  Bannockburn,  s.p.,  the  title  came  to  an  end,  and  the  estates  fell  to  his  three 
sisters,  one  of  whom,  Elizabeth,  married  John  de  Burgh,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Ulster, 
and  the  founder  of  Clare  Hall,  Cambridge.  Her  granddaughter,  Elizabeth, 
married  Lionel,  third  son  of  Edward  111.,  created  Duke  of  Clarence,  and  their 
daughter  and  heiress  Philippa,  by  marriage  with  Edmund  Mortimer,  of  Wigmore, 
third  I^arl  of  March,  conveyed  Clare  to  that  family,  and  gave  to  it  likewise  their 
title  to  the  Crown,  the  origin  of  the  Wars  of  the  Roses.  Their  son,  Sir  Edmund 
Mortimer,  succeeding  in  1405,  found  the  castle  in  good  repair  and  well  stocked, 
and  on  his  death,  s.p.  (8  Henry  VI.),  the  honour  and  castle  devolved  upon  his 
sister  Anne's  son,  Richard  Plantagenet,  Duke  of  York,  the  father  of  Edward  I\'. 

Thus  by  the  Yorkist  success  the  estates  were  vested  in  the  Crown,  and  so  con- 
tinued till  6  Edward  VI.,  when  they  were  bestowed  on  Sir  John  Checke  ;  Queen 
Mary,  however,  resumed  their  possession,  but  the  castle  and  lordship  came  later 
to  Sir  Gervase  Elwes,  Bart.,  of  Stoke,  in  whose  family  they  continued  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century. 

It  does  not  appear  that  this  castle  ever  sustained  any  siege,  and  there  is  no 
record  as  to  when  or  by  whom  its  buildings  and  walls  were  dismantled  and 
destroyed  ;  once  neglected,  however,  and  suffered  to  fall  into  ruin,  its  very  stones 
would  he  liable  to  plunder  in  a  country  devoid  of  building  material,  and  this  has 
happened. 

EYE   {minor) 

LITTLE  remains  here  but  the  earthworks,  which,  however,  are  remarkable, 
and  date,  perhaps,  from  a  time  prior  to  Saxon  occupation.  A  huge 
rampart,  formed  in  the  shape  of  an  oval,  lying  N.E.  and  S.W.,  whose  major  axis 
measures  400  feet,  and  the  minor  250,  contains  at  its  N.E.  end  an  immense 
artificial  mound,  rising  to  the  height  of  60  feet  ;  no  doubt  this  was  in 
Saxon  times  the  site  of  a  timber  fortress  and  dwelling,  to  be  succeeded  by  a 
Xorman  shell  keep,  of  which,  unfortunately,  there  are  no  remains,  and  all  the 
niasoni-y  now  existing  consists  of  a  few  fragments  of  the  old  rampart  wall  upon 
the  X.  and  S.  sides. 

Here,  in  the  days  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  his  falconer,  Edric,  had  his  family 
mil, I,  or  hall,  and  after  the  Conquest  it  was  given  to  Robert  de  Malet,  son  of  that 


SUFFOLK  277 

Robert  who  accompanied  Duke  William  from  Normandy,  \vhost>  name  is  on  the 
Roll  of  Battle  Abbey,  and  who  received  for  his  services  120  manors,  includinj^  the 
honour  of  Eye.  Robert  de  Malet  is  said  to  have  raised  a  Norman  keep  upon  the 
mound,  which  would  be  surrcjunded  with  a  stone  wall  and,  outside  of  that,  by  a 
ditch  ;  a  wall  also  capped  the  entire  circuit  <jf  the  earthen  valliun. 

De  Malet  held  the  office  of  Great  Chamberlain  under  Henry  !.,  but  appears 
still  to  have  espoused  the  hopeless  cause  of  Robei  t  Curthose,  that  Kin;.;'?>  elder 
brother,  and  was,  in  c()nsee|uence,  dispossessed  by  Henry,  and  banished  from  the 
country.  His  lands  were  then  bestc^wcd  on  Stephen  of  Blois,  afterwards  King  of 
Enf^land,  and  in  later  times  they  came  to  William,  Km\  of  Houlof^ne  and  Moretain, 
who  died  in  1160,  when  all  reverted  to  the  Crown.  King  John,  in  his  sixth  year, 
gave  the  castle  aiul  lioiiour  tn  William  Longespee,  Earl  of  Salisbiirv,  and  after  him 
John's  second  son,  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  had  them.  In  13  Henry  III., 
Hubert  de  Burg,  Earl  of  Kent,  held  them;  but  in  20  Henrv  III.  we  find 
Henry,  Duke  of  Brabant  and  Lorraine  there.  In  125S  they  were  in  the  possession 
of  Edmund,  Earl  of  Cornwall.  .After  him  the  fortress  became  vested  in  King 
Edward  I.,  and  after  him  Edward  II.  conferred  it  and  its  lands  upon  various 
persons.  Edward  111.,  in  his  eleventh  year,  bestowed  it  on  Robert  de  UtTord, 
when  he  made  him  Earl  of  Suffolk,  giving  him  a  special  grant  in  tail  f)f  the  castle, 
town,  and  manor  of  Eve,  with  the  manors  depending  upon  that  lumour. 
This  noble's  son,  William,  dying  in  1381,  and  leaving  no  issue,  the  whole  fell 
again  to  the  Crown,  who  next  bestowed  the  property  on  the  de  la  Poles. 

Richard  11.,  in  his  ninth  year,  in  creating  Michael  de  la  Pole  (who  had  married 
Katherine,  only  daughter  of  Sir  John  Wingfield),  Earl  of  Suffolk,  conferred  on 
him  the  castle  and  lordship  of  Eye.  He  was  afterwards  attainted  (str  WlNGKiKl.u), 
but  Henry  IV.  restored  to  his  son  the  title  and  estates,  which  this  family  held  till 
5  Henry  VIII.,  when  Edmund  de  la  Pole  was  beheaded  and  they  reverted  to 
the  Crown.  Charles  I.  settled  the  property  in  dower  on  ^ueeii  Henrietta  Maria, 
who,  with  the  exception  of  the  Commonwealth  interlude,  held  it  till  her  death  in 
i66g.  Then  it  was  settled  on  Catherine,  Queen  of  Charles  II.,  and  subsequently 
the  castle  and  honour  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Lords  Cornwallis,  and  next, 
by  purchase,  to  Sir  Edward  Kerrison,  Bart.,  the  late  owner. 

F  R  A  M  L I X  G  H  A  M  (c/ne/) 

Tins  lordly  fortress  stands  upon  a  low  hill  on  the  N.  of  the  town,  on  the  E. 
side  of  the  county,  about  thirteen  miles  from  the  coast.  It  is  certain  that  a 
Saxon  stronghold  existed  here  in  early  ages,  since  it  was  here  that  P'dward,  King 
of  the  East  Angles,  was  besieged  by  the  Danes  in  A.D.  H70  ;  he  escaped  from 
thence,  but  was  overtaken  at  Hoxne,  and  shot  to  death  with  arrows. 

The  remains  of  the  present  castle  consist  of  an  imposing  circlet  of  walls,  some- 
what oval   in  shape,  enclosing  an   area  of  i|   acres;    the  surrounding  walls  arc 


278  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

44  feet  ill  lifiglit  and  8  feet  tliick,  flanked  by  13  square  mural  towers,  \\hich  over- 
top the  wall  by  14  feet,  all  nearly  entire  ;  close  up  to  the  walls  was  the  inner  moat, 
beyond  which  were  two  other  broad  belts  of  deep  water,  encircling  all  but  the  W. 
side,  where  the  fortress  was  rendered  inaccessible  by  a  far-reaching  watery  marsh 
or  mere. 

Holinshcd  affirms  the  castle  to  liave  been  held  by  William  I.  and  by  Rufus, 
but  little  is  known  about  it  previous  to  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  in  1103,  when  the 
place  and  other  demesnes  were  granted  to  Roger  Bigod,  who  died  in  1107- 
William  Bigod  succeeded  him,  but  perished  at  sea  when  returning  from 
Normandy  in  11 20,  at  the  time  when  Prince  William  was  drowned  at  Barfleur. 
His  brother  Hugh  followed  him  in  the  estates  ;  he  was  steward  of  the  household 
of  Henry  I.,  and  was  created  Earl  of  the  East  Angles  afterwards  by  Stephen,  on 
his  testifying  on  oath  that  the  late  King  had  nominated  Stephen  as  his  successor 
in  preference  to  his  daughter  Maud,  the  wife  of  the  Emperor  Henry  V.  of 
Germany. 

This  Hugli  made  peace  with  Henry  II.  on  his  accession,  but  afterwards 
espoused  the  side  of  the  King's  rebellious  sons  against  their  father  in  1173,  and  on 
the  landing  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester,  with  his  army  of  Flemings,  he  allowed 
them  to  occupy  Framlingham  and  his  other  castles,  from  whence  they  despoiled 
the  country  round.  Wherefore,  the  next  year,  when  Henry  returned  from  France, 
he  proceeded  to  wreak  vengeance  on  Hugh  Bigod,  and  attacked  and  took  his 
castles  of  Ipswich  and  Walton,  and  then  proceeded  to  Framlingham,  which,  being 
at  the  time  perhaps  unfinished  and  weak,  was  delivered  up,  and  Henry  then 
followed  the  earl  to  his  castle  of  Bungay  ((/.;'.),  and  there  brought  him  to  terms. 
We  have  the  accounts  of  payments  made,  in  1175,  for  pulling  down  Framlingham 
Castle  and  filling  up  its  ditch.  Earl  Hugh,  having  died  at  the  Crusade  in  1177, 
was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Roger,  who  was  restored  to  the  title  and  estates,  and 
must  have  repaired  and  rebuilt  the  dismantled  castle,  for  we  find  that  in  1215  King 
John  besieged  him  in  it  and  obtained  its  surrender  ;  but  next  year,  when  John  was 
endeavouring  to  conciliate  some  of  his  barons,  Roger  Bigod  had  Framlingham 
restored  to  him,  and  three  more  of  his  family  held  it  till  the  death  of  Earl  Roger 
in  25  Edward  I.,  when,  in  default  of  heirs,  the  property  fell  to  the  Crown. 
Edward  I.  then  bestowed  Framlingham  on  his  fifth  son,  Thomas  of  Brotherton, 
Earl  of  Norfolk,  and  Earl  Marshal  of  England,  whose  widow  (after  him),  had  it 
for  life  from  Edward  II. 

Then  the  castle  and  lordship  vested  in  the  Lady  Joan,  one  of  the  two  sisters  of 
her  late  husband,  married  to  William  de  Ufford,  Earl  of  Suffolk,  and  at  the  death 
of  them,  to  her  sister  Margaret,  the  wife  of  John  Lord  Segrave.  The  place  next 
went  to  their  daughter  and  heiress,  married  to  John,  Lord  Mowbray,  she  being 
created  Duchess  of  Norfolk,  at  whose  death  the  castle,  with  its  honour  and 
manor,  descended  to  her  son,  Thomas,  Lord  Mowbray,  who  was  created  hereditary 
Earl  Marshal  of  England  and  Duke  of  Norfolk, 


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SUFFOLK  281 

for  retreat  while  tlie  approaches  to  tlie  castle  through  the  forest  were  obstructed 
with  fciiecl  trees. 

Five  clays  after  Mary's  arrival,  a  Heet  of  six  ships  of  war,  sent  to  besiege 
Franiliiij^hani,  was  carried  over  to  her  side  by  their  crews,  and  the  ships  at 
Harwich  likewise  declared  for  her,  their  guns  and  warlike  stores  being  sent  for 
the  defence  of  the  castle.  A  Privy  Council  was  now  formed,  which  sent  a 
proclamation  of  defiance  to  London,  and  rewards  were  offered  for  the  person  of 
Northumberland.  He  was  at  Cambridge,  and,  appalled  at  the  revolution,  lost 
heart  and  gave  himself  up,  and  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  though  he  had  himself 
proclaimed  Mary  Queen  at  Cambrid;4c.  Mary  broke  up  from  Kramlingham  on 
July  31,  and  commenced  her  triumphant  march  to  London  by  way  of  Ipswich; 
and  on  the  same  day  her  sister  Elizabeth  and  the  Privy  Council  started  from 
I^ndon  to  meet  tluir  Sovereign  at  Ingatestone.  Thence  the  Queen  went  to  her 
mansion  at  Wanstead,  where  she  disbanded  her  troops,  and  then  proceeded  to 
make  her  entry  into  London. 

At  Mary's  accession  the  attainder  on  Norfolk  was  reversed,  and  the  Queen 
restored  to  him  his  estates  of  F'ramlingham  and  Kenninghall.  He  was  then  an 
old  man  of  eighty,  and  he  died  at  this  castle  the  next  year.  His  grandson 
succeeded  him,  Thomas,  fourth  duke,  who  fell  a  victim  to  his  attachment  to  the 
cause  of  Marv  Queen  of  Scots,  and  was  beheaded  by  Elizabeth,  last  of  the 
sanguinary  Tudors,  when  all  the  estates  again  reverted  to  the  Crown.  James  L 
granted  Framlingliam  again  to  the  Howards,  who  sold  the  property  in  1635  to 
Sir  Robert  llitcliam,  Knight  ;  he  dying  next  year,  bequeathed  the  place  to  the 
Master  and  Fellows  of  Pembroke  College,  Cambridge,  and  in  their  hands  it 
remains.  Hitcham  directed  that  the  whole  castle  (which  was  probably  in  a 
dilapidated  state)  should  be  pulled  down,  except  what  was  built  of  stone,  and  this 
was  done  in  i()t,i).  All  the  lodgings,  halls,  chapel,  and  oftices  were  dismantled, 
and  witii  the  materials  a  poorhouse  was  built  within  the  walk,  and  some  charitable 
houses. 

What  remains  is  chielly  ol  the  reign  of  Edward  11.,  though  much  was  added 
later  by  the  Howards.  The  chief  entrance  was  at  the  gatehouse  on  the  S.,  where 
are  carved  the  arms  of  Urotherton,  Mowbray,  Howard,  and  others,  and  which  had 
a  portcullis  and  drawbridge  ;  this  building  was  the  work  of  Thomas  Howard,  the 
second  duke,  together  with  the  Perpendicular  windows  and  the  very  incongruous 
but  beautiful  red  chimneys.  I'pon  the  W.  there  was  a  b.ubican  which  was 
standing  in  1O57,  the  foundations  of  which  may  be  tr.iced  to  the  right  of  the 
bridge.  At  that  time  there  stood  in  the  imier  court  a  handsome  well  with  carved 
pillars  supporting  a  canopy  ;  the  chapel  adjoined  the  E.  wall,  and  the  great  hall 
was  on  the  W.  ;  while  between  the  two  was  a  large  nnige  of  rooms  with  a  cloister 
below  it.  A  postern  gave  egress  on  the  E.,  over  a  bridge  built  on  stone  piers,  to 
the  park,  which  was  large  and  well-wooded,  long  since  disparked  and  converted 
into  fertile  fields.  The  outer  ballium,  to  which  a  timber  bridge  from  the  postern 
VOL.  I.  -IN 


282  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

led,  is  shown  in  the  thirteenth-century  plan  to  be  bid  out  as  a  "  pleasaunce  "  or 
garden. 

HAUGHLEY  (»imor) 

THESE  ruins  are  in  the  Hundred  of  Stow, a  httle  N.of  Stowmarket.  Xear  the 
cliurch  of  Hau^lTley  are  the  remains  of  a  very  strong  castle,  which  is 
sometimes  called  "  Hageneth,"  and  was  probably  built  in  Stephen's  reign. 
During  the  unnatural  wai-  that  was  waged  between  Henry  II.  and  his  sons,  this 
castle  was  held  by  Kalph  de  Broc  for  the  King,  and  when  Robert  "  Blanche- 
mains,"  Earl  of  Leicester,  landed  at  Walton  with  his  army  of  Flemings,  after 
marching  to  Hugh  Bigod's  castle  of  Framlingham,  and  resting  there  awhile,  these 
marauding  troops  proceeded  to  Haughley  and  laid  siege  to  it,  obliging  de  Broc  to 
surrender  it,  after  which  they  marched  to  Leicester.  Edward  I.  in  his  ninth  year 
granted  the  lordship  and  castle  to  the  ancestor  of  Robert  de  Ufiord,  Earl  of 
Suffolk,  who  died  seised  of  them  (43  Edward  III.).  His  heir  William  dyings./'., 
his  three  sisters  divided  the  manor  between  them,  and  in  the  twenty-eighth  year  of 
Henrv  VI.  we  find  William  de  la  Pole,  Earl  of  Suffolk,  possessed  of  the  property, 
or  the  chief  part  of  it ;  afterward  Charles  Brandon,  of  Henry  VIII. 's  reign,  Duke 
of  Suffolk,  had  the  manor. 

The  form  of  the  castle  was  rectangular,  and  it  was  surrounded  by  a  deep  moat ; 
the  remains  of  it  are  meagre,  but  the  earthen  rampart  remains  on  all  sides  except 
the  N.,  ;md  some  fragments  of  the  buildings  can  be  seen.  On  the  N.  side,  upon  a 
high  artificial  mound,  which  shows  the  original  Saxon  or  Danish  origin  of  the 
fortress,  stood  the  keep,  whose  massive  foundations  still  exist,  the  mound  being 
also  encircled  by  a  ditch.  On  the  W.  side  is  a  large  rectangular  space,  apparently 
an  outwork  of  this  castle,  the  E.  side  of  which  abuts  on  the  moat  of  the  keep.  Its 
N.  and  W.  sides  were  defended  by  a  smaller  moat,  as  was  perhaps  the  case  on 
the  S  also.     The  area  enclosed  is  seven  acres. 


I P  S  W I C  H   {non-existeni) 

THERE  was  a  Norman  castle  here  which  Hugh  Bigod  the  Restless  {"  iiiqiiic- 
tissiiiiiis")  maintained  for  some  time  against  King  Stephen  in  the  interests  of 
the  Empress  Maud,  but  which  he  was  forced  at  last  to  surrender.  The  fortress  has 
so  entu-ely  disappeared  that  no  one  can  tell  where  it  was  situated.  Some  have 
stated  that  it  stood  in  the  parish  of  Westerfield  where  traces  exist  of  a  building 
or  earthworks.  It  was  probably  destroved  by  Henrv  II.  in  1174  at  the  same  time 
as  Walton  Castle. 


SUFFOLK 


283 


METTIXGHAM    {minor) 

Tl  IIS  fortress,  wliicli  was  rather  a  fortified  manor-house  than  a  castle,  hes  two 
miles  S.E.  of  Bungay.  Here  are  the  ruins  of  a  fourteenth-centuiy  fortress, 
built  by  Sir  John  de  Norwich,  who  obtained  a  licence  to  crenellate  his  house  from 
Edward  1 11.  in  the  year  1342.  His  ancestor,  of  the  same  name,  is  said  to  have  come 
from  a  branch  of  the  Bigods,  Earls  of  Norfolk,  and  obtained  this  lordship  from 
Edward  I.  in  1302.  The  father  of 
the  founder  was  Sir  Walter  de  Nor- 
wich, Chief  Baron  of  the  Exchequer,     | 

n  the  reign  ol  Edward  11.    His  son,    "f 

'""  '   ' '      *     "'     ■""         ;-^  cri*"        _ 


Sir  John,  was  a  valiant  ollicer,  who 
did  good  service  in  the  Erench 
wars  ;  he  was  governor  of  Angoii- 
leme,  where  he  saved  his  garrison 
by  a  stratagem,  related  by  Froissart. 
He  possibly  amassed  considerable 
wealth  by  booty  and  ransoms,  like 
other  English  leaders,  and  had 
licences  to  erect  castles  also  at  Ling 
and  Blackworth  in  Norfolk. 

His  race  died  out  in  1378  in 
his  grandson  Sir  John,  when  the 
estate  was  inherited  by  Katherine  de 
Brewes,    or    Brews,    a   widow,   the 

daughter  and  heiress  of  Thomas  de  Norwich,  brother  oi  the  founder,  then  a  mm 
at  Dartford  in  Kent.  She,  in  1382,  made  over  Mettingham  Castle  to  a  college 
of  ecclesiastics,  wlio  were  removed  from  Raveningham  in  Norfolk  to  this  place. 
They  were  a  bodv  (jf  monks  or  clerics,  who  existed  apparently  for  the  sole  purpose 
of  saying  Masses,  and  they  continued  here  till  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries, 
when  the  place  was  granted  to  Sir  Anthony  Denny,  and  in  the  fifth  year  of 
Elizabeth  it  was  sold  to  the  Bacon  family,  and  was  used  as  a  residence  by  the 
Lord  Keeper  Bacon.  In  1675,  the  manor  and  castle  were  transferred  by  the 
Bacons  to  one  John  Hunt,  whose  grandson,  Tobias  Hunt,  dying  s./>.,  the  property 
fell  to  his  two  co-heiresses,  of  whom  the  younger,  Grace  Hunt,  married  James 
SatTord,  of  Ipswich,  the  great-grandfather  of  the  present  proprietor. 

The  castle  stands  about  a  mile  S.  of  the  church  of  Mettingham,  and  the  ruins 
are  extensive,  the  area  of  it,  including  the  moats,  being  more  than  live  acres.  The 
whole  forms  a  parallelogram,  surrounded  by  a  moat,  and  divided  into  two  parts  or 
courts  by  a  cross  moat  running  from  E.  to  W.  ;  each  portion  measures  88  \"irds 
N.  and  S.  and  iio  E.  and  \V.  In  the  southernmost  of  the  twt)  enclosures  is 
another  nuier  moat  which  surrounds  the  college.    Tin  northern  ward  formed  thv 


METTIN'GH.AM 


284  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

castle  proper,  and  was  quite  surrounded  by  a  strong  wall,  a  great  part  of  which  still 
stands  ;  the  most  interesting  feature  being  the  noble  Edwardian  gatehouse,  which 
remains  tolerably  perfect.  It  is  a  massive  square  building,  with  two  lofty  and 
narrow  square  flanking  towers,  containing  two  storeys  above  the  pointed  gateway 
passage.  E.  and  W.  of  this  run  the  wings  of  the  curtain  wall,  as  shown  in  Buck's 
drawing  of  1738  ;  having  once  a  square  tower  at  each  corner,  and  on  the  W.  end, 
above  the  wall,  are  four  windows,  which  belonged  perhaps  to  a  dormitory. 

Sir  John,  the  founder,  was  forced  to  leave  his  castle  unfinished  and  to  return 
to  the  p-rench  wars,  and  the  work  was  continued  by  his  wife,  Dame  Margaret,  who 
built  the  keep,  Leland  says,  on  the  W.  side  of  the  first  court ;  this  was  the  resi- 
dence of  the  founder's  family,  and  afterwards  of  the  master  of  the  college.  The 
whole  front  of  the  gatehouse  and  walls  are  battlementcd,  and  the  gateway  has 
a  portcullis  groove,  and  had  a  drawbridge  over  the  moat. 

It  is  remarked  by  Suckling  that  this  building  was  a  castle  for  only  forty  years, 
and  was  then  held  bv  ecclesiastics  for  160.  After  Lord  Bacon's  time  the  place  was 
neglected.  At  last  the  habitable  part  was  made  into  a  farmhouse,  which  was 
eventually  pulled  down  by  Mr.  Samuel  Safford,  who  built  a  new  house  on  the  site, 
retaining  in  it  an  angle  of  the  old  keep.  At  this  time.  Suckling,  who  was  curate  of 
the  parish,  says  he  saw  much  of  Dame  Margaret's  work  laid  open,  some  of  the 
interior  decorations  with  colour  and  gilding  being  quite  fresh.  Some  curious 
sculptured  stones  have  been  dug  up,  and  six  bells  were  recovered  in  cleaning  the 
moat.  The  remains  of  the  college  stand  within  the  inner  moat  in  the  S.E.,  and 
until  1839  possessed  a  picturesque  turret  which  was  called  Kate's  Tower,  after 
the  donor,  Katherine  dc  Brewes,  but  which  fell  down  in  that  year. 

OR  FORD   (mmor) 

IX  the  S.E.  division  of  the  count}',  seven  miles  S.W.  of  Aldborough,  near  the 
coast.  The  town  is  built  on  the  W.  side  of  a  creek  formed  by  the  Ore 
and  Aide  rivers,  and  gives  its  name  to  the  earldom  of  Orford,  once  held  by  the 
Walpole  family.  The  castle,  said  to  have  formerly  occupied  the  centre  of  the 
town,  is  now  on  its  \V.  side,  from  the  disappearance  of  a  great  part  of  the  older 
buildings  of  the  town,  where,  upon  rising  ground,  stand  the  remains  of  its  remark- 
able keep,  which  somewhat  resembles  that  of  Coningsborough,  Yorks.  The  name  of 
the  founder  is  not  known,  nor  the  date  of  erection,  but  it  may  be  of  the  time  of 
Stephen  or  of  Henry  I.,  Caen  stone  being  employed  in  the  ashlar  dressings  ;  and 
since  the  lands  were  given  to  Robert  Malct,  the  follower  of  the  Conqueror,  it  is 
possible  that  his  son  founded  this  castle.  In  1215,  the  Bigods.  Earls  of  Norfolk, 
had  it  in  their  custody,  giving  place  soon  after  to  the  famous  Hubert  de  Burgh,  Earl 
of  Kent.  In  45  Henry  III.,  Philip  Marmion  was  governor,  but  after  the  battle  of 
Lewes  the  victorious  barons  placed  Hugh  Despencer  here.  In  the  reigns  of 
Edward  I.  and  II.  the  descendants  of  Peter  de  Valoines  the  Norman,  held  Orford 


SUFFOLK  285 

and  made  it  tlieir  chief  seat,  until,  at  the  deatli  of  Rubert  de  Valoines,  Eaii  of 
Suffolk,  early  in  the  ieif:;n  of  Edward  III.,  Kobert  de  Ufford,  who  Iiad  married  that 
noble's  daughter  and  co-heiress,  Cecilia,  had  a  j^iant  for  life  of  the  t(jwn  and  castle. 
William  de  Ufford  died  seised  of  it  5  Richard  11..  Then  his  widow  possessed  the 
property  for  her  dowry,  and  was  succeeded  by  Robert,  Lord  Willoiighby  d'Eresby, 
who  was  the  j^randson  of  Robert  de  Ufford,  son  of  Cecilia,  the  lady  of  Orford. 
The  \VilI(ni)4hbys  were  heie  from  4  Henry  \'.  until  the  lime  of  Henry  \'lli., 
when  the  estate  came  to  Sii  .Michael  Stanhcjpe,  and  descended  with  his  other 
property  to  Fryce  Devereu.x,  afterwards  Lord  Heref(jrd,  whose  executors  sold  it  to 
the  Earl  of  Hertford.  The  second  Marquis  of  Hertford  wished  to  pull  down  this 
ancient  fabric  for  the  sake  of  the  materials,  but  fortunately  it  was  saved  by  the 
Government  in  the  interests  of  the  shipping',  to  which  the  keep  affords  a  useful 
mark  at  sea. 

The  Keep,  or  citadel,  is  of  very  peculiar  construction,  and  may  best  be  described 
as  a  hollow  cylinder,  27  feet  in  diameter,  supported  or  flanked  by  three  equidistant 
square  turrets  on  the  \V.,  X.E.  and  S.E.  sides,  boldly  projecting  from  the  centnil 
tower  ;  the  faces  of  this  in  the  spaces  between  the  turrets  are  moulded  \nUi  the 
facets  of  a  polygon,  while  its  centre  is  circular.  All  the  towers  are  crenellated,  the 
outer  ones  overtopping  the  central  tower,  which  is  90  feet  in  height.  The  walls 
are  solid  at  the  base  and  measure  20  feet  through.  The  keep  is  encircled  with  two 
ditches  which  are  concentric  at  15  feet  and  18  feet  from  the  walls,  and  between 
these  ran  a  circular  wall  of  defence  40  feet  high  and  heavily  battlemented,  of 
which  a  portion  still  remains.  A  square  tower  attached  to  the  S.E.  turret  gave 
access  by  a  flight  of  stairs  to  the  fust  floor  of  the  keep,  and  under  this  entrance 
are  two  cellars,  or  dungeons,  unprovided  with  air  or  light  openings.  There  were 
four  storeys  in  the  main  building,  having  timber  joists  for  their  flooring,  and  a 
spiral  staircase  led  up  to  the  top  ;  two  of  the  storeys  are  lighted  with  small 
windows,  and  the  side  turrets  have  five  stages.  Over  the  entrance  was  a  small 
chapel.  A  stair  in  one  of  the  turrets  leads  to  the  third  stage,  which  has  been  roofed 
and  floored  ;  this  formed  the  chief  apartment,  and  a  kitchen  was  contained  in  one 
of  the  side  turrets  on  the  same  level,  furnished  with  a  brick  chinmey.  There  was 
a  garderobe  to  eacii  lloor,  and  small  sleeping  chambers  were  contrived  in  the 
walls.     At  the  top  of  one  ol  the  turrets  is  an  oven  or  furnace. 

The  lirst  notice  of  this  castle  is  in  Camden,  who  ipiotes  from  Randolpluis  de 
Coggeshall  a  legend  of  the  capture  of  a  merman  in  the  nets  of  some  fishermen 
there  during  the  reign  of  IKiiry  I.,  "when  liarth  de  Glanvi  lie  w;is  warder  of  Orford 
Castle."  After  being  kept  some  time  shut  up  in  the  castle  and  somewhat  tamed, 
the  creature  is  said  to  have  escaped  to  the  sea  and  disa|ipeared. 


286  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

WALTON   {iwn-existcut) 

THIS  castle  stood  on  the  summit  of  ;i  high  cHff  near  Fehxstowe,  a  mile  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Woodbridge  river,  and  near  the  shore.  Here  Holin- 
shed  says  that  Robert  "  Blanchemains,"  Earl  of  Leicester  {sec  Leicester),  landed 
in  1173  with  his  army  of  Flemings,  under  the  protection  of  Hugh  Bigod,  and  was 
jiarboured  until  he  proceeded  to  that  Earl's  castle  of  Framlingham.  Therefore 
when  Henry  11.  came  the  next  year  to  take  his  revenge  he  totally  destroyed 
Walton,  its  very  stones  being  distributed  about  the  vicinity,  and  footpaths  being 
paved  with  them.  The  manor  was  given  by  Edward  I.  to  his  fifth  son,  Thomas  of 
Brotherton,  Earl  of  Norfolk,  and  it  came  afterwards  to  the  possession  of  the  Dukes 
of  Norfolk  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

In  an  account  written  in  1740  it  is  said  that  part  of  the  foundations  of  the  W. 
wall  were  still  to  be  seen,  187  feet  in  length  and  3  yards  thick  ;  but  the  sea,  ever 
encroaching  on  the  coast  line  here,  has  now  devoured  the  rest  of  this  ruin. 

WING  FIELD   {mwor) 

IN  the  N.  of  the  county,  one  mile  from  Syleham,  between  Eye  and  Bungay. 
The  remains  of  this  castle  lie  a  quarter  of  a  mile  S.W.  of  the  church. 
The  first  mention  of  the  place  is  in  the  ninth  year  of  Edward  I.  when  the 
lordship  was  in  the  possession  of  Richard  de  Brews,  or  Bruce,  after  which  it 
appears  as  the  property  of  an  ancient  family  named  Wingfield,  settled  here, 
according  to  family  documents,  before  the  Conquest.  They  were  knights  of  the 
shire  from  2  Richard  II.  to  6  Henry  VI.,  and  one  or  other  of  them  was 
frequently  high  sheriff  from  33  Henry  \'l.  to  the  latter  end  of  Elizabeth's  reign. 
Sir  James  Wingfield  was  a  councillor  and  a  favourite  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince, 
and  accompanied  him  to  Languedoc  in  1355.  He  was  the  last  male  of  his  branch, 
and  his  daughter  and  heiress,  Katherine,  marrving  Michael  de  la  Pole,  first  Earl  of 
Suffolk  of  his  line,  carried  the  estate  into  that  illustrious  family.  In  8  Richard  II. 
(1384)  Michael  de  la  Pole  received  a  licence  to  crenellate  his  iiiaiisinii  iiuiiiciii 
of  Wyngefeld. 

After  the  death  of  William  de  Ufford,  Earl  of  Suffolk  jiiir  iixcris,  of  Orford 
Castle  (q.v.),  the  earldom  was  vacant  for  four  years,  when  Richard  II.  in  his 
ninth  year  advanced  his  chancellor,  this  same  Michael  de  la  Pole,  to  be  Earl  of 
Suffolk.  He  was  the  son  of  a  merchant  of  Hull,  a  man  of  great  wealth,  who  had 
assisted  Edward  111.  with  large  loans,  to  enable  him  to  make  his  expeditions  into 
France.  His  son  Michael  supported  the  attack  of  Henry  of  Bolingbroke  against 
Richard  II.  and  was  succeeded  in  1415  by  his  second  son,  William,  the  eldest 
having  been  slain  that  j-ear  at  Agincourt. 

This  Earl  William  became  the  great  noble  of  Henry  VI.'s  reign,  and  was 
chiefly  instrumental   in  effecting  the  marriage  of  the  young  King  to   Margaret 


SUFFOLK  287 

of  Aiijou  ;  lie  was  Lord  Cliambcilaiii  and  Lord  Hiyli  Admiral  of  England,  and 
was  made  I  Juke  of  Suffolk.  As  the  warm  supjK^rter  of  an  unpopular  Queen,  Suffolk 
incuired  the  hatred  of  the  people,  and  also  on  account  of  his  suppcjsed  participation 
in  the  death  of  the  good  Duke  Humphrey  at  Bury.  His  enemies  obtained  a  sentence 
of  banishment  against  him,  and  on  his  voyage  to  France  they  found  means  to 
intercept  him  near  Dover,  when,  being  forced  to  enter  into  a  small  boat,  his  head 
was  chopped  off  on  the  gunwale.  His  body,  cast  ashore,  was  brought  home  to 
Wingfield  and  inn  led  in  the  church  there.  He  is  the  SutTolk  of  Shakespeare's 
"Henry  VI." 

His  son,  John,  married  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  Mster  to  Edward  l\'.,  and  lived 
in  higii  favoui-  with  liis  brother-in-law,  dying  in  1491,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  eldest  son,  John,  tliinl  Duke-,  wiio,  on  the  death  of  the  son  of  l<{ichard  III.,  w:is 
by  that  King  formally  declared  heir  apparent  to  the  English  Crown.  On  the 
accession  of  Henrv  VII.  Suflolk  hastened  to  leave  the  kingdom,  and  sought  refuge 
at  the  court  of  his  sister.  Duchess  of  Burgundy,  the  active  plotter  against  the 
Tutlor  King. 

After  his  death  his  brother  Edmund  took  up  the  earldom,  and  was  imprisoned 
bv  HenrvVIII.in  the  T()wer,ancl  on  that  monarch  undertaking,  in  his  fourth  vear, 
his  expedition  to  France,  he  had  Sulfolk  beheaded,  jealously  fearing  his  pretensions 
to  the  tlii'one;  and  the  property  and  lands  were  conliscated  (1513).  It  is  right 
to  add  that  Suffolk  had  been  left  a  prisonei'  by  Henry  \'ll.  with  the  recommenda- 
tion for  his  execution. 

A  long  while  after  the  Manor  of  Winglield  came  to  the  Catlyn  family,  on  the 
extinction  of  which  it  devolved  on  the  heirs  of  Thomas  Lemon  of  Wenhaston.  It 
is  now  vested  in  Sir  E.  Kerrison,  Bart.  The  Winglield  family  afterwards  migrated 
to  Letheringham  and  Easton. 

The  drawinggiven  in  Buck's  "  .Vntiquities  "  shows  the  deserted  fortress  much  in 
the  same  state  as  it  is  at  present  ;  the  grand  S.  front,  with  its  noble  Edwardian 
gateiiouse  in  the  centre,  is  still  tolerably  perfect.  The  line  low-pointed  gateway, 
with  portcullis  groove,  is  Hanked  by  two  magnilicent  lofty  octagonal  towers, 
three  storeys  high  ;  and  on  each  side  of  it  extend  the  cuit.iin  walls, 
terminated  bv  an  octagonal  luiret  at  either  end,  somewhat  lower  than  the 
gatehouse,  the  whole  front  and  towers  being  heavily  battlemented.  All  this  is 
the  work  of  Michael  de  la  Pole,  whose  arms,  as  lirst  Earl  of  SutTolk,  with  those  of 
Winglield,  are  cut  in  stone  on  each  side  of  the  entrance,  'i'he  W.  side  has  been 
converted  into  a  faiinhouse.  The  situation  is  low,  and  the  defence  depended 
chiefly  on  the  brt)ad  moat,  and  had  no  earthworks.  The  inner  towers,  with  a 
drawbridge  on  the  E.  side  of  the  moat,  were  repaired  by  an  owner,  Dr.  Leman, 
who  inhabited  the  castle. 


CASTLE  ACRE 


mo  if  Oik 


BU  KEN  HAM  {mhm-) 


f)f  Attleboroiigh  is  the  vil 


igL'  of  Old  Bukeiihamj 


HREE    miles    S.W. 

near  which    is  the  site  of  a  priory  founded  before   1136  by  William 


T 

I  d'Albini,  to  build  which  lie  utilised  the  site  of  a  castle  of  his,  stand- 

JL  ing  within   an    oval  enclosure  on  the  N.E.  of  the  church,  and  still 

traceable  by  its   large    rampart    and   ditch.     The    date    of   the    erection    of    this 

castle  is  unknown,  and  the  sole  relic  of  it  is  a  stone  sewer  into  the  ditch  on  its 

W.  side.     (Harrod.) 

Here  stood,  no  doubt,  the  timber  fortress  of  Ralph  Guader,  the  Saxon  Earl  of 
Norfolk,  who  fled  the  country  at  the  Norman  invasion,  and  whose  lands  the 
Conqueror  bestowed  on  William  d'Albini. 

Shortly  before  1136  this  d'Albini's  descendant  removed  the  castle  to  a  new 
site,  lying  about  i\  miles  off,  on  the  W.  of  the  village  of  New  Bukenham,  in  a 
higher  and  healthier  situation.  This  second  castle,  built  bv  William  d'Albini, 
descended,  like  Castle  Rising,  through  that  familv  until  the  death  of  Hugh  d'Albini 
in  1243,  when  in  a  partition  between  four  co-heirs  Bukenham  fell  to  Robert  de 
Tateshall,  who  made  it  his  chief  residence.  After  him  it  came  to  five  namesakes,  the 
last  dying  a  minor  in  1310,  when  the  property  passed  by  females  to  the  Cliftons,  with 
whom  it  remained  till  1447,  in  which  year  the  only  daughter  of  Sir  John  Clifton 
brought  it  to  Sir  Andrew  Ogard,  Knight.  He  died  s.p.  in  1454,  and  Bukenham 
went  by  marriage  to  Sir  James  Knevet,  Knight,  in  whose  family  it  continued  till 


XOKir)LK  289 

Sir  Philip  Knevet  sold  it  in   1649  to  Hugh  Aiidley,  having  first  demohshcd  the 
castle. 

The  earthworks  here  resemble  in  plan  those  of  Castle  Acre,  Imt  the  absence  of 
any  mound  is  an  unusual  feature  in  ancient  hank  and  ditch  fortresses,  in  which 
respect  they  also  resemble  the  works  round  KiNing.  It  has  therefore  been  stated 
that  the  whole  is  the  work  of  William  <!'Aliiini  the  second,  called  William  of  the 
Strong  Hand. 

Passing  from  the  cross-roads  through  an  ancient  outer  ditch,  one  enters  a  large 
circular  enclosure  by  a  modern  brick  bridge  thrown  across  the  ditch  which 
encircles  the  work,  by  an  opening  in  the  huge  rampart,  where  once  stood  the 
gatehouse.  The  diameter  of  the  ring  space  within  is  216  feet,  and  on  the  top  of 
the  sunounding  bank  tlicrc  was  evidently  a  stone  wall,  wlncli  has  disappeared, 
though  traceable  all  roiuid.  Ail  the  rest  of  the  stonework  has  vanished  likewise, 
with  the  exception  of  the  substructure  of  a  circular  tower  at  the  S.E.  side,  built  of 
rubble  11  feet  thick,  and  divided  by  a  cross  wall.  This  basement  has  neither 
window  nor  staircase,  and  niav  have  served  as  a  dungeon,  and  the  tower  was, 
perhaps,  one  of  two  or  more,  forming  the  main  defences.  Outside  this  chief 
portion,  on  its  E.  side,  is  an  outer  earthwork  of  horseshoe  shape,  like  that  at  Castle 
Acre,  surrounded  by  its  own  ditch,  and  with  a  similar  bank.  The  whole  fortress 
is  now  covered  with  trees. 

On  the  road  S.  of  the  castle  can  be  seen  the  remains  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Mary, 
now  a  barn,  at  the  W.  end  of  which  are  the  ruins  of  a  brick  house,  built  by  the 
Knevets  in  the  sixteenth  century.  Its  E.  end  had  an  apse,  and  at  the  W.  end 
was  an  original  bell-col,  altered  into  a  chimney.     (Harrod.) 

We  know  little  about  the  occurrences  that  took  place  during  the  500  years  of 
this  castle's  life  ;  except  that  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  it  was  held  by  Sir  Robert 
Tateshall  for  the  King,  and  stood  a  siege  by  the  Barons'  forces  under  Sir 
Ikiiiy  Hastings.  But  the  King's  side  was  populai  iiere,  and  Tateshall  was 
supported  by  the  county  with  arms  and  supplies,  s(j  that  Hastings  was  forced  to 
raise  the  siege,  and  in  revenge  marched  his  troops  to  other  properties  of  Sir 
Robert,  where  he  burned  and  destroyed  as  much  as  he  could  of  them. 

CAISTER  (cliirf) 

THE  village  of  this  name  lies  3  miles  X.  of  Yarmouth,  over  the  green  flats  that 
border  the  seashore,  and  Caister  Castle  stands  i|  miles  inland  near  if, 
upon  a  slight  eminence  on  the  borders  of  a  marshy  plain.  It  is  a  castellated  brick 
building,  one  of  the  earliest  in  England  of  brick,  and  was  built  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI.  (cir.  1450)  by  Sir  John  Fastolf,  a  celebrated  character  in  those  times,  who 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  original  of  Falstaft',  and,  if  so,  was  nuicli  maligned.  He 
was  the  son  of  John  P'astolf,  of  Caister,  a  man  of  repute,  married  to  the  widow  of 
Sir  Richard  Mortimer,  of  .Attleborough.  He  was  born  about  I37!<,  and  was  the  ward 
VOL.  I.  20 


290 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


of  John,  Duke  of  Bedford,  the  Regent  of  France,  and  afterwards  was  an  esquhe  of 
Tlioiiias,  Duke  of  Clarence,  his  elder  brother,  with  whom  he  went  to  Ireland, 
where  he  married  Millicent  (Tiptoft),  widow  of  Sir  Stephen  Scroope,  who  brought 
him  large  estates  in  Wilts  and  Yorkshire.  In  1417,  he  was  at  the  great  siege  of 
Rouen,  and  the  capture  of  Caen,  Falaise,  and  other  towns  in  Normandy,  and  was 
made  knight-banneret  on  the  field  of  Verneuel.  Fastolf's  chief  exploit  was  before 
Orleans  at  "the  Battle  of  Herrings,"  when  at  the  head  of  a  small  force  he  routed 


CAISTER 


a  powerful  army  under  Dunois,  which  tried  to  prevent  him  from  bringing  pro- 
visions, chiefly  herrings  (it  being  Lent),  into  Orleans.  It  is  said  he  fled  before  the 
Maid  at  I'atay  ("  Henry  VI.,"  Part  I.),  but  in  company  with  the  great  Talbot  and 
Lord  Scales.  Then,  after  being  Governor  of  Normandy,  he  returned  to  England 
in  1340,  and  soon  after  obtained  a  licence  from  Henry  VI.  to  fortify  a  dwelling- 
house  "as  strongly  as  he  himself  could  devise."  This  was  Caister  Castle,  which 
he  doubtless  built  with  the  plunder  and  ransoms  he  had  acquired  in  P'rance. 
Ten  of  the  Paston  letters  are  in  his  hand.  At  Fastolf's  death,  the  property,  but 
not  his  great  wealth,  went  to  John  Paston,  the  eldest  son  of  Sir  William.  He  seems 
to  have  lived  here  in  much  splendour,  and  the  list  of  his  furnishings  and  eft'ects  is 


NORFOLK 


291 


almost  royal  ;  lie  left  plate  in  his  house  of  13,400  ounces  of  silver,  besides  some  of 
f,'o!d,  and  3000  ounces  were  left  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Bennet,  where  he  was  buried, 
besides  2500  to  his  house   in   Her- 
mondsey. 

His  successors,  the  Pastons, 
derive  from  an  ancestor,  W'ool- 
stan,  who,  in  Xorman  times, 
obtained  a  ^rant  of  lands  ;it 
Paston,  a  village  on  the  N.E. 
coast  of  Norfolk.  Sir  William 
Paston,  born  1378,  wa^  a  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Connnon  Pleas 
(temp.  Henry  V'l.),  and  died  in 
1444  ;  his  son,  John  Paston,  was 
not  nearly  related  to  Sir  John 
l'"astolf,  and  tiie  estate  was 
claimed  iiy  others,  among  them 
by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  (John 
Mowbray),  and  Paston  died  pre- 
maturely, worn  out  by  consequent 
litigation  in  1466.  His  eldest  son, 
Sir  John,  fought  at  Harnet,  and 
after  the  ruin  of  the  Lancastrian 
cause,  made  his  peace  with  Edward 
1\'.  and  was  employed  at  Calais. 
During  his  absence,  Caister  Castle 
being  in  charge  of  his  brother, 
likewise  called  John,  in  I4'),S  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk  came  there  with 
an  armed  force,  and  summoned 
Paston  to  deliver  up  the  castle 
and  lands  to  him,  on  the  false 
plea  that  he  had  purchased  them. 
This  was  refused,  and  in  Septem- 
ber 1469,  he  returned  with  a  body 
of  3000  troops  and  four  knights, 
with  guns,  culverins  and  archers, 
and  laid  siege  to  the  castle,  which 
was     bravely     defended     by    the 

brother,  John  Paston,  aided  by  tweiitv-eight  friends,  servants,  and  a  few  soldiers. 
There  is  a  letter  written  from  Norwich,  September  12,  by  Dame  Margaret,  to 
her   son,   Sir   John  (Paston  Letters,  No.  93,  vol.  iv.),    who  was  living  in  KUet 


CAl>lKk 


292  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Street,  London,  letting  him  know  the  state  of  matters  at  Caister,  and  charging 
him  to  see  his  brother  "holpen  in  haste."  It  says:  "Your  brother  and  his 
fellowship  stand  in  great  jeopardy  at  Caister  and  lack  victuals,  and  Daubeney 
and  Berney  be  dead,  and  divers  others  greatly  hurt  ;  and  they  fail  gunpowder 
and  arrows,  and  the  place  is  sore  broken  with  guns  of  the  other  party."  The 
unfortunate  owner  had  no  money  and  could  do  nothing  but  get  intercession 
made  with  the  duke,  which  was  quite  unavailing,  so  the  siege  went  on,  more 
guns  being  brought  from  Lvnn  and  other  places  to  bear  on  the  castle,  which  fell, 
after  holding  out  some  weeks.  John  Paston,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  fine  fellow, 
writes  to  his  brother  :  "  We  were,  for  lack  of  victuals,  gunpowder,  mens'  hearts, 
lack  of  surety,  of  rescue,  driven  thereto  to  take  appointment  (make  terms)."  The 
duku  then  seized  the  place,  and  in  those  times  of  civil  war  seems  never  to  have 
been  called  to  account  for  this  breach  of  the  peace  ;  but  his  title  was  bad,  and 
intercession  was  made  with  the  King,  who  himself  appealed  to  the  duke  (in  1475) 
to  give  back  the  castle  ;  this  he  flatly  refused  to  do.  Fortunately,  the  next 
Januarv  (1476),  the  duke  died  suddenly  at  PVamlingham,  aged  thirty,  leaving  only 
an  infant  daughter,  who  was  betrothed  to  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  also  an  infant 
(murdered  in  the  Tower  with  his  brother),  and  in  less  than  a  fortnight.  Sir  John 
had  claimed  and  entered  into  his  castle  ;  he  stayed  there  three  days,  when  he  had 
to  return  to  his  military  duties  at  Calais.  But  on  the  26th  of  May,  1476,  he  writes 
from  London  that  he  had  at  length  procured  a  decree  for  the  restitution  of  Caister  : 
"  However  it  shall  cost  me  great  money,  and  hath  cost  me  much  labour  ;  it  is  so 
that  the  King  must  have  100  marks  (X66  13s.  or  about  X1300  of  our  money),  and 
other  costs  will  draw  40  marks.     1  shall  have  much  pain  to  get  so  much  money." 

Within  three  years  Sir  John  died  of  the  plague  in  London,  aged  forty,  and  the 
castle  deservedly  fell  to  his  brother  John,  who  had  so  bravely  defended  it.  He 
was  made  a  knight-banneret  on  the  field  of  Stoke  by  Henry  VII.  in  1487,  and  died 
in  1503,  being  followed  in  the  property  bv  his  son  William,  aged  twenty-three, 
who  was  knighted  by  Henry  VIII.,  whom  he  accompanied  to  the  Field  of  the 
Cloth  of  Gold,  dying  in  1554.  His  son.  Sir  Clement  Paston,  built  a  new  and 
grand  mansion  at  Oxnead,  and  removed  thither  from  Caister  ;  he  died  s.p.,  and 
his  heir  continued  to  live  at  Oxnead,  and  in  1600  abandoned  Caister  Castle.  In 
1660,  Sir  William  Paston,  being  embarrassed  for  ;^6500,  owing  to  a  citizen, 
William  Crow,  of  London,  parted  with  the  castle  and  its  lordships  and  manors  to 
this  man,  under  whom  it  sank  into  ruin.  His  descendants  were  made  Earls  of 
Yarmouth  in  1679,  but  the  family  became  extinct  in  1732.  Caister  afterwajds 
became  the  property  of  one  of  the  Gurney  families. 

The  ruins  of  this  old  abode,  like  those  of  its  church,  have  been  converted  into 
farm  premises.  The  whole  limit  of  its  walls  enclosed  6  acres,  the  chief  part 
forming  a  quadrangle,  of  which  the  N.  and  W.  sides  remain  tolerably  perfect. 
This  is  enclosed  with  a  broad  moat,  crossing  which  on  the  E.  you  entered  a 
rectangular  enclosure,  called  the  college,  built  on  three  sides    of    a  square,  the 


NORFOLK  293 

outer  walls  of  which  partly  remain,  witli  tlie  foundations  of  a  round  tower  at  the 
X.E.  and  S.E.  ends  ;  it  was  moated  also,  and  a  portion  remains  under  the  E.  front 
wall,  which  is  furnished  with  loops.  This  buildinj^  contained  tlie  college  and 
chantry,  founded  by  Sir  John  F'astolf.  The  i^rand  entrance  was  over  a  draw- 
bridj,'e  on  the  W.  side  ;  on  the  left  of  this,  on  entering,',  was  the  j^reat  Hall,  of 
which  the  six  double  windows  remain  ;  it  was  59  feet  lony  bv  2M  wide,  and  at 
the  end  of  it,  at  the  N.W.  angle,  is  a  lofty  and  graceful  round  tower,  25  feet  in 
diameter  and  90  feet  high,  in  five  storeys,  supported  by  an  hexagonal  turret  on  the 
left  side,  which  contained  a  line  flight  of  stone  stairs  to  the  top  ;  these  stairs  were 
carried  away  by  a  cleigyman  for  use  at  a  new  house  at  W'roxham  ior  the  Tral'ford 
family,  so  it  is  not  possible  now  to  ascend  the  tower.  Adjoining  the  tower  is  tlie 
dining-room,  the  fireplace  of  which  is  still  to  be  seen. 

On  the  S.W.  is  a  large  outbuilding  which  has  a  tower,  and  near  it  a  large 
archway  in  the  basement  spanning  a  small  creek,  now  tilled  up,  which  com- 
municated with  the  sea,  and  by  which  barges  could  be  received  ;  this  is  called  the 
barge-house. 

The  whole  W.  front  of  the  castle  is  heavily  machicolated,  but  the  battlements 
have  disappeared.  The  building  contained  twenty-six  chambers  beside  the  State 
apartments,  the  chapel,  and  the  oftices.  N.E.  of  it  is  an  ancient  barn  coeval  with 
the  castle. 

C.VSTLE  .\CRE  (mhior) 

THE  ancient  and  foniiiclahle  c.uthworks  that  have  acquired  this  name, 
together  with  such  renuiants  as  are  left  of  the  medi;eval  castle  after- 
wards built  among  them,  stand  on  the  X.  side  of  the  river  Nar,  about  four  miles 
X.  of  the  town  of  Swaffham.  These  early  British  earthworks  consist,  first,  of  a 
mighty  circular  mouiul,  surrounded  by  a  broad  dry  ditch,  to  which  is  attached, 
southwards,  another  work  of  horseshoe  shape,  having  a  rampart  and  external  ditch  ; 
the  axis  of  these  two  works  ranges  X.  and  S.,  and  on  the  E.  of  the  mound  extends 
another  enclosure,  whose  ditch  unites  those  of  the  other  two  works,  and  encloses 
with  its  bank  an  ear-shaped  piece  of  land. 

All  this  possibly  formed  a  British  Icenian  fortress,  and,  when  taken  possession 
of  by  the  Romans,  was  used  by  them  for  the  E.  limb  and  defence  on  that  side  of 
a  new  castrum  which  they  proceeded  to  draw  out  ujion  the  W.  side  of  it,  being  a 
great  rectangular  work  of  rampart  and  ditch,  enclosing  about  10  acres  of  ground, 
and  measuring  350  yards  X.  and  S.  by  420  E.  and  W.,  the  bank  of  it  standing 
about  20  feet  above  the  outside  huul  and  in  great  measure  perfect  even  now. 

When  the  Xormans  came  and  fi.xed  on  this  ancient  fortification,  ;is  they  did  in 
numerous  other  instances,  for  the  site  of  a  stone  castle,  they  so  planned  tlie  work 
that  the  Roman  camp  should  form  the  outer  ballium,  or  bailey,  of  it,  retaining  the 
military  road  which  passed  through  it  from  S.  to  X.,  and  placing  gatehouses  at 


294  CASTLES  OF    ENGLAND 

both  ends  of  this  road,  whicli  became  in  mediaeval  times  the  position  occupied 
by  the  residences  of  all  the  tradesmen  and  dependents  of  the  castle,  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  its  constable,  and  whicli  forms  at  the  present  day  the  village,  still 
called  Bailey  Street. 

On  the  summit  of  the  great  mound,  as  usual,  was  erected  the  Norman  keep, 
which  seems  to  have  been  low  and  circular   and   a  shell-keep,  with  buttresses, 

as  at  Clare.  From  this 
wall  four  or  five  short 
cross-walls  radiated 
across  the  ditch,  as  tra- 
verses, those  on  the  E. 
and  \V.  uniting  with  a 
strong  boundary  wall, 
forming  a  curtain  de- 
fence round  the  whole 
rampart  of  the  horse- 
shoe work  below  the 
keep.  Within  this  en- 
ceinte of  the  lower  level 
were  the  main  buildings 
of  the  castle,  and  some 
foundations  of  these  are 
still  to  be  traced  ;  access 
was  gained  from  them  to  the  keep  by  a  flight  of  steps  ascending  the  mound  out 
of  the  dry  ditch.  Mr.  Harrod  states  that  he  discovered  on  the  mound  the 
foundations  of  an  oblong  building,  50  feet  by  40,  the  walls  being  13  feet  thick, 
entered  bv  a  door  on  the  S.  front ;  this  may  haxe  been  a  citadel  within  the  outer 
circular  shell,  round  which  also  on  the  inside  buildings  were  probably  ranged. 

On  the  E.  of  the  mound,  the  smaller  low-lying  piece  of  ditch-surrounded  land 
may  have  been  merely  kept  as  a  protected  pasture  for  the  garrison  horses  and 
cattle. 

Of  the  gatehouses  entering  the  outer  bailey  that  on  the  N.  end  is  still  standing, 
having  two  circular  flanking  towers  of  flint  rubble  of  Early  English  work,  with 
a  portcullis  groove  and  a  chamber  above  for  working  this  ;  there  is  a  pointed  arch 
gateway  which  was  furnislied  with  oak  gates  at  each  end,  the  huge  pivots  on  which 


CASTLE  ACRE 


these  swung  still  remaining. 


Near  this  end  gate  on  the  E.  side  of  the  street  was  the 


castle  chapel,  converted  afterwards  into  a  dwelling-house.  Blomefield  conjec- 
tures from  traces  that  were  visible  in  his  time  that  the  S.  gate  was  in  structure 
similar  to  that  on  the  N.  end. 

William  de  Warren,  the  first  Earl  of  Surrey,  who  was  married  to  the  Lady 
Gundreda,  half-daughter  to  the  Conqueror,  received  as  the  price  of  his  services  no 
less  than  139  lordships  in  this  county,  including  the  manor  of  Castle  Acre,  and  here, 


NORFOLK  295 

probably  ;it  ihc  bidding  of  his  father-in-law,  lie  founded  ni  the  ancient  fortress  the 
Norman  stone  castle   above  described.      Moreover,  going    with    his   wife  on   a 
pilgrimage  to  Rome,  they  visited  the  Abbey  of  Cliigny,  in  Burgundy,  on  their  way, 
and  were   so  prepossessed   with   all   they  saw  at  that  great   institution   that   they 
determined  to  found  a  Cistercian  monastery  at  home,  and  on  their  return  built  at 
Lewes,  their  principal    residence,   a   priory  for   twelve   Cluniac  monks  in   1078. 
His  beloved  Gundreda  dying  in    1085,  Earl  William  at  once   founded   another 
monastery   at    Castle  Acre,   subcjrdinate  to  the  Lewes  Priory,    within  the  c;istle 
precincts;    he  then  took  to  a  religious  life,  and  died  in   1089.     His  son  William 
succeeding,  removed  the  monks  to  the  magnificent  priory  outside  the  castle  on  the 
W.  side,  and,  dving   11 35,  was  followed  by  iiis  son  William,  third  earl,  who  sided 
with  King  Stephen,  and  going  to  the   Holy  Land  died  there  in    1148,  leaving  an 
onlv  (laughter,  Isabel,  who  married,  as  her  second  husband,  Hameline  Plantagenet, 
the  brother  of  Heiirv  II.,  and  who  succeeded,  //(»y  iixoris,  to  the  vast  estates  of  the 
Warrens  and  their  earldom.     He  is  one  of  the  signatories  of  the  Great  Charter. 
His    son    by  Isabel   succeeded    him    as  fifth    Earl    de  Warren  and   Surrey,  and 
married  Maud,  daughter  of  William  Marshal,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  the  Protector, 
by  whom  he  had  Isabel,  the  wife  of   Hugh  d'Albini,  Earl  of  Arundel  and  Sussex, 
and  John  Plantagenet,  born  1231,  who  was  one  of  the  most  constant  supporters  of 
Henry   III.  in  the  Barons'  War,  supporting  him  especially  with   his  castle  at  the 
time  of  the  battle  of  Lewes  (sec  Lewes,  SfSSKX).     He  was  afterwards  in  high  com- 
mand under  Edward  I.,  and  took  Dunbar  and  other  castles  in  Scotland  from  Baliol. 
King  Edward  visited  him  at  Castle  .Acre  in    1297,  staying  there  for  three  weeks. 
The  earl's  son  dying  during  his  lifetime,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  grandson  John, 
seventh  and  last  Earl  tic  Warren  and  Surrey,  whose  treatment  of  his  estates  appears 
extraordinarv.     In  order  to  curry  favour  with   Edward  II.  he  surrendered  all  his 
lands,  including  Castle  Acre,  to  that  Sovereign,  who,  after  keeping  them  a  year, 
regranted  them  to  him.     Then,  being  childless,  he  sold  the  estates  to  Aymer  de 
Valence,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  this  earl,  after  ten  years'  possession,  sold  them  to 
the  Earl  of  .Athol.     But  soon  after,  in  the  first  year  of  Edward  III.,  we  find  Earl 
Warren  repurchasing  the  estates  from  the   Earl  of  Athol,  and  immediately  from 
some    caprice   again   surrendering   them  to   the    new    King,    Edward    III.,   who 
regranted   them   to    Earl  Warren  for    his    life,    but    with    reversion    to    Richard 
F'itzAlan,  Earl  of  Arundel,  the  son   of  .Alice,  Earl  Warren's  sister  and  heir,  who 
obtained  the  estates  at  de  Warren's  death  in   1347  ;  but  the  castle  had  now  from 
long    neglect   become  a  ruin.     His  son,  Earl  Richard,  succeeded  him  in    1375 
a  noble  and  a  soldier  of  high   repute,  but   he  sided  with  the  Duke  of  Gloucester 
(sir   Pi.EsilY,  Es.SEX),  and   was  impeached   for  treason    by   Richard   II.,  being  be- 
headed on  Tower  Hill,  when  his  son-in-law,  Thomas  Mowbray,  Earl  of  Notting- 
ham, acted,  it  is  said,  as  headsman.    His  son,  Earl  Thomas,  however,  recovered  the 
estates   from    Henry    IV.,    and    h.iiuled   tlicni    down  until    i    Elizalx-th,    when   a 
descendant,  Henry,  Earl  of  Arundel,  sold  this  manor  to  Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  who 


296  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

liad  already  bought  the  priory  from  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  to  whom  Henry  VIII. 

had  granted  it. 

The  lands  were  afterwards  sold  to  Thomas  Cecil,  and,  later,  were  bought  from 
William  Cecil,  Earl  of  Exeter,  by  Sir  Henry  Coke,  the  famous  lawyer,  who  was 
Lord  Chief  Justice  at  that  time  ;  from  him  the  place  has  passed  on  in  his  family 
to  its  present  owner,  the  Earl  of  Leicester. 

CASTLE  RISING  (chief) 

CASTLE  RISING  is  situate^l  four  miles  to  the  N.E.  of  Lynn,  at  a  point  where 
the  land  rises  somewhat  from  the  lower  flats,  which  may  have  originated  the 
name.  It  is  separated  now  from  the  E.  shore  of  the  estuary  of  the  Wash  by  about 
two  miles  of  reclaimed  lands,  but  in  early  days  the  sea  flowed  up  to  and  about 
the  village,   which  was  a  poit,  and   is  thus  alluded  to  in   an  old  doggrel  verse 

of  the  country  : 

"  Rising  was  a  sea-port  town 

When  Lynn  was  but  a  marsh  ; 
Now  Lynn  it  is  a  sea-port  town 
And  Rising  fares  the  worse." 

The  inaccessibilitv  of  the  place  may  account  for  its  choice  originally  as  a  fortress. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  site,  selected  for  the  formation  of  an  ancient 
British  earthwork,  was,  as  happened  also  at  Castle  Acre,  in  later  times  utilised 
bv  the  Romans  for  a  castrum,  and  was  so  adapted  by  them,  with  additional 
earthworks  on  the  E.  and  W.  of  the  central  oval  stronghold.  This  latter  British 
work  consists  of  a  mighty  bank  enclosing  an  area  measuring  80  yards  N.  and  S. 
by  67  E.  and  W.,  surrounded  outside  by  an  enormously  broad  and  deep  ditch,  the 
top  of  the  rampart  standing  30  feet  above  the  ground  inside,  and  measuring  some 
60  feet  from  the  bottom  of  the  ditch.  On  the  W.  of  this  work  is  a  rectangular 
piece  of  ground,  abutting  on  the  ditch,  and  enclosed  on  its  three  sides  by  a 
separate  ditch  ;  while  on  the  E.  of  the  central  work  is  a  much  larger  rectangular 
enclosure,  having  likewise  a  broad  ditch,  which  is,  however,  separated  from  the 
central  ditch  at  both  ends  for  access  purposes,  and  inside  is  another  high  bank  of 
earth.  The  two  rectangular  spaces  were  the  additions  of  the  Romans.  The 
whole  covers  an  area  of  about  thirteen  acres. 

The  lands  here  had  belonged  to  Archbishop  Stigand,  and  were  bestowed  by 
the  Conqueror  on  his  half-brother,  Bishop  Odo  of  Bayeux  and  Earl  of  Kent;  but 
on  that  prelate's  rebellion,  the  Red  King  gave  them  to  William  d'Albini,  and  from 
liim  they  passed  to  his  son  William  "of  the  Strong  Hand,"  to  whom  the 
founding  of  the  Norman  castle  is  attributed.  He  married  Queen  Adeliza,  the 
widow  of  Henry  I.,  and  assumed  in  her  right  the  title  of  Earl  of  Arundel,  being 
shortly  after  created  also  Earl  of  Sussex.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  William, 
who  died  in  1196,  and  whose  son,  dying  in  1221,  left  two  sons,  William  the  elder, 


NORFOLK 


297 


who  died  s.p.  in  1224.  iiid  Hugh  d'Albini  tlic  other,  wlio  inanied  Isiibcl,  cUiiiyhtcr 
of  Wilham,  Eui  1  de  \\';irieii  and  Surrey,  of  Castle  Acre  ;  he,  too,  died  .<./<.,  leaving 
four  co-lieirs  : 

1.  Robert,  son  of  his  elclest  sister  Isabel,  the  widow  of  Kolu-rt  dc  Tatcshall. 

2.  John  FitzAlan,  son  of  Isabella,  another  sister  by  John,  lA>n\  KitzAlan. 

3.  A  sister,  Nicholane,  wife  f)f  Roger  de  Somery. 

4.  A  sister,  Cecily,  wife  of  Roger,  Lord  de  Montalt. 

Tpoii  the  partition  of  the  last  earl's  vast  estates,  the  castle  and   manor  of  Rising 


LAMlLK    klSlNi. 


went  jiiii-  ii.wris  to  Lord  Montalt,  who  left  two  sons,  John  and  Robert,  and  they 
succeeded  in  turn  ;  but  John's  son  died  .<./>.,  and  Robert,  who  was  a  noted  w;irrior 
and  statesman,  having  also  no  issue,  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Edward  111. 
for  the  sale  of  this  castle  and  its  lands,  for  the  sum  of  10,000  marks,  retaining  it 
for  his  own  lifetime  and  that  of  his  wife,  with  reversion  to  the  Queen  Dowager, 
Isabella,  for  her  life  ;  after  her  to  John  of  Kllham,  Karl  of  Cornwall,  second  son 
of  King  Edward,  with  remainder  to  the  King  antl  his  heirs. 

Robert   de   Montalt  died  s.f>.  three    years    later  (December    1331),    when    his 

widow  Emma,  for  an  annuity  of  Jl^^oo,  surrendered  her  life  interest  to  the  Queen 

Dowager,  who  entered  into  possession  and  took  up  her  residence  at  Rising.     On 

her  death  in  135X  (John   of  Ellh.im  h.ivnig  died  .<./«.),  Edward  the  Black  Prince 

vol..  I.  -  I' 


298 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


inlicrited  as  Uuke  of  Cornwall,  and  fioni  him  the  property  descended  to  his  son, 
Richard  II.,  as  an  appanat^e  of  the  Ducliy.  Kinj;  Richard  II.  exchanged  it  with 
Joiiii  le  Vaillant,  Duke  of  Brittany,  for  the  castle  of  Brest,  but  this  was  set  aside  in 
1397,  when  Rising  reverted  to  the  Duchy.  Henry  \'III.  exchanged  it  with 
Thomas  Howard,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  in  1693  it  came  to  another  Thomas 
Howard,  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Suffolk  and  Berks,  one  of  whose  descendants 
still  holds  the  lands  and  castle,  under  the  will  of  the  late  Hon.  G.  T.  Howard. 

The  one  special  interest  which  clings  to  the  old  tower  before  us  is  the  tradition 
that  it  formed  the  prison-house  for  twenty-seven  long  years  of  Isabella,  the  Queen 

Dowager,  the  She  Wolf  of  France, 
after  the  retributive  justice  which 
fell  upon  her  paramour  Mortimer  ; 
and  we  have  wondered  at  the  stern 
treatment  of  his  mother  by 
p:dward  III.,  who  could  thus 
immure  her  for  life,  "forbidding 
her  ever  to  go  out,  or  show  her- 
self abroad  ; "  for  this  is  the 
history  as  told  by  Miss  Strickland 
on  the  authority  of  Froissart.  But 
reference  to  the  Patent  Rolls,  and 
researches  in  the  records  of  the 
Corporation  of  Lynn,  have  dis- 
proved this  story.  First,  as  we  have  seen,  Rising  became  in  1331  Queen  Isabella's 
own  property,  for  which  she  paid  an  annuity  of  ;£'40o  to  Montalt's  widow,  and 
though  she  took  up  her  abode  here,  she  by  no  means  lived  entirely  at  this  castle, 
but  occasionally  visited  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  Her  son  seems  to  have 
treated  her  with  ceremony.  In  1330  she  was  conducted  with  much  State  from  the 
castle  of  Berkhamstead,  where  she  was  living,  to  Windsor,  to  keep  Christmas  with 
the  King  and  Court.  In  1338  she  was  residing  at  Pontefract  Castle.  Then  she 
entertained  at  Rising  her  son  and  his  Court  with  Royal  State,  and  in  1344  Queen 
Isabella  was  with  the  King  and  Queen  at  the  palace  of  Norwich,  with  a  large 
gathering  of  nobles  and  knights  assembled  to  keep  the  King's  birthday,  where, 
amid  other  delicacies,  they  "there  had  an  enormous  pie— wondrously  large." 
She  likewise  stayed  at  various  times  at  Northampton,  Walsingham,  and  Langley  ; 
mdeed,  from  the  twelfth  year  of  her  son's  reign,  Isabella  seems  to  have  been 
constantly  on  the  move.  Finally,  she  did  not  die  here,  as  is  stated,  but  at  her 
own  castle  of  Hertford,  as  is  proved  by  the  inquisition  taken  at  Salisbury,  which 
shows  that  she  died  at  the  castle  of  Hertford  on  August  22,  1358,  aged  63.  In  the 
Cottonian  Library  is  a  MS.  of  the  household  book  of  Queen  Isabella  from  October 
1357  ""til  her  death,  during  the  whole  of  which  time  she  was  at  Hertford, 
having  repaired  thither  from  Castle  Rising.     Nor  is  Miss  Strickland  accurate  in 


CASrLE   RISING 


NORFOLK  299 

telling  that  she  "chose  for  her  grave  the  Grey  Friars  church  where  Mortimer's 
remains  rested,"  that  infamous  character  having  been  iniriecl,  temporarily,  at  (Jrey 
Friars  in  Coventrv,  while  the  remains  of  the  ^ueeii  Dowager  were  laid  in  (irey 
Friars  church  within  Newgate,  with  much  ceremony,  the  King  attending.  It  is 
said  that,  with  characteristic  hypocrisy  to  the  last,  she  was  buried  with  the  heart 
of  her  UHirdered  husband  on  her  breast  ;  and  it  is  shown  that  for  the  last  year  of 
her  life,  the  daughter  and  grandson  of  Kiii^'ci  Nfortiimi  were  aiuoni/  Irt  closest 
friends.     (Harrod.*) 

The  presence  of  these  existing  earthworks  is  the  only  apparent  reason  for  the 
selection  of  this  localitv  for  a  Norman  castle,  the  buildings  of  which  were  erected 
almost  wholly  within  the  central  work  ;  but  of  all  those  which  constituted  the 
castle — walls,  towers,  hall,  chapels,  lodgings,  kitchens,  ofHces,  stables,  &c. — nothing 
remains  except  the  great  tower,  or  Keep,  the  chapel,  gatehouse,  and  a  few 
foundations  of  the  constable's  buildings  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 

The  encircling  wall,  with  its  nuiral  towers,  which  capped  the  summit  of  the 
high  lamparl,  his  t|iiitc  disappeared,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  fragments  of  a 
brick  portion  of  the  date  of  Henry  VI.  Gone  also  are  the  great  hall,  the  gallen.', 
and  State  apartments  of  the  castle  proper,  where  Queen  Isabella  entertained  her 
son  and  his  Court  ;  these  probably  stood  in  the  space  S.K.  of  the  keep  ;  but,  like 
many  another  castle,  this  one  was  suffered  to  tall  into  decav  and  ruin  at  an  early 
period,  since  in  22  Edwaid  1\'.  it  was  reported  that  there  was  "  never  a  house  in 
the  castle  able  to  keep  out  rain,  wind,  nor  snow."  Some  repairs  were  given  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VII.,  but  in  the  survey  of  34  Henrv  \'lll.,  all  was  again  in  ruin  ; 
besides,  slips  of  the  earthworks  took  place  which  destroyed  and  buried  many  of 
the  buildings,  including  the  chape!  of  St.  Nicholas,  <in  the  N.  side,  which  has  been 
excavated  of  late. 

The  greater  part  of  the  gatehouse  is  Norman,  but  the  bridge  is  of  later  date,  its 
arch  being  Perpendicular.  The  porter's  lodge,  just  within  the  gate,  shown  in  an 
old  drawing,  has  vanished. 

Hut  there  still  remain  to  us  the  walls  of  the  superb  great  tower,  a  building  75  feet 
by  64,  and  50  in  height,  having  walls  6  feet  and  7  feet  thick,  the  ornamentation 
of  which  shows  it  to  be  late  Norman.  Like  other  Norman  keeps  it  is  entered  from 
a  magnificent  fore-building  on  the  K.  side,  containing  the  staircase  to  the  second 
floor,  all  which  part  is  tolerably  perfect.  The  fabric  is  divided  into  two  unequal 
portions  by  a  thick  wall  running  E.  and  W.  from  foundations  to  roof,  as  at 
London,  the  larger  rooms  being  on  the  N.  side.     The  exterior  is  plain  ;  the  quoins 

♦  It  may  l>c  recalled  here  th.it  Isabella  was  (laughter  to  Philip  the  Fair,  King  of  Fmncc, 
and  sister  to  Louis  Hiitin,  Philip  the  Long^  and  Charles  the  Fair,  all  of  whom  dying  s.^.  she 
was  entitled  to  tlic  Crown  of  France.  Imt  for  Salicpic  law,  ant!  tlien  her  son,  Edward  III., 
should  have  succeeded  ;  l)Ut  being  set  aside  iiy  Philip  Valois  (wliose  father  was  a  younger  brntlier 
of  Pliiiip  the  Fair),  Edward  made  war  on  I'rance  to  assert  his  riglit,  quartering  tlic  I'rcnch 
flcnr-de-Iys  on  the  arms  of  England,  where  they  were  borne  for  more  than  four  hundred 
years  after. 


300  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

being  supported  by  pilasters,  meeting  at  the  angle,  the  X.  and  S.  fronts  being 
also  strengtliened  by  pilasters,  while  deeper  ones  shroud  the  loopholes  on  the  \\'. 
front. 

Originally  there  were  but  two  stages  in  the  building,  the  basement,  which  is 
lighted  by  loops  only,  having  the  kitchen  and  well  on  the  N.  side,  with  three 
masonry  piers  for  supporting  a  vaulting  for  the  floor  above,  and  two  vaults 
at  the  W.  end.  In  the  N.E.  corner  is  a  spiral  stair  by  which  this  stage  is  reached 
from  the  upper  fioor.  An  opening  in  the  massive  cross  wall  admits  to  the  room 
on  the  S.  side  which  was  vaulted  at  one  end,  and  was  ceiled  by  joists  and  beams 
elsewhere. 

To  reach  the  upper  floor  one  enters  the  fore -building  at  the  S.E.  angle  by  the 
great  staircase  outside  the  E.  wall  of  the  keep.  This  is  a  very  noble  work,  having 
a  rich  late  Norman  arcade  of  interlacing  arches  along  its  E.  side.  Half-way  up 
the  approach  is  protected  by  a  doorway,  the  door  of  which  was  closed  by  wooden 
bars,  whose  sockets  are  still  to  be  seen  ;  and  at  the  top  of  the  flight  is  a  lobby  with 
a  magnificent  quadrupled  archway  at  the  entrance  into  the  great  hall  on  the  upper 
floor.  Below  this  lobby  is  a  dungeon  or  prison.  The  hall  is  on  the  N.  side,  and 
has  a  mural  gallery  on  the  N.  wall  for  lighting  purposes,  at  the  E.  end  of  which  is 
a  spiral  stair  to  the  later  third  floor  above,  and  at  the  W.  end  is  a  small  circular 
closet  in  the  X.W.  angle  of  the  tower.  On  the  W.  end  are  two  small  apartments 
carried  by  the  vaulting  at  the  end  of  the  basement,  having  garderobes  on  the  outer 
wall.     The  roof  was  of  tile  supported  bv  timber,  with  leaden  gutters. 

From  the  hall  access  is  gained  to  the  large  lodging  apartment  of  the  keep, 
which  is  furnished  with  many  mural  recesses  and  chambers,  and  has  at  its  E.  end 
two  small  rooms,  carried  bv  the  vaulting  below,  which  may  have  formed  an 
oratory  and  a  priest's  room.  There  are  likewise  two  other  rooms  contrived  over 
the  great  staircase,  and  a  curious  small  passage  between  them,  with  a  descending 
stair  leading  to  an  opening  in  the  E.  wall,  the  use  of  v,hich  is  difficult  to  discern. 

It  is  satisfactory  to  think  that  this  magnificent  building  is  now  in  hands  which 
will  guard  it  from  further  destruction. 

ELM  HAM   (mn- existent) 

FORMERLY  North  Elmham,  is  a  village  upon  the  N.  or  left  bank  of  the 
Wensum  river,  to  the  N.  of  East  Dereham.  The  lands  here  seem  to  have 
always  been  ecclesiastical  possessions,  belonging  to  the  diocese  of  East  Anglia. 
In  the  eleventh  year  of  Richard  II.,  Bishop  Spencer  obtained  a  licence  to  fortify 
and  crenellate  his  iiumsiim,  the  site  of  which  is  still  visible  on  the  N.  side  of  the 
village  upon  a  rather  commanding  eminence.  It  occupies  a  corner  in  an  enclosed 
intrenchment,  containing  about  five  acres,  which  has  been  thought  to  have 
originally  formed  a  Roman  camp.  The  inner  ward  of  the  work  contained  about 
two  acres,  and  was  surrounded  with  a  deep  ditch.     There  is  still  a  good  well  of 


NORFOLK  301 

water  here.  Little  is  left  to  see  except  a  few  fraj^meiits  of  tlie  walls,  and  little 
indeed  is  recorded  about  the  history  of  the  place.  The  lands  f<jrined  the  subject 
of  an  exchanj^e  made  between  Henry  VIII.  and  Hishop  N'ix. 

( i  1<  P:  S  H  .\  M   (nou-exislnil) 

AT  this  place,  which  is  near  Cromer,  was  once  a  castle  belonj^in;^  to  Sir 
ICdniund  Bacon,  which  he  was  permitted  to  embattle  and  crenellate  by 
licence  (12  Edward  II.).  It  was  a  considerable  structure,  150  feet  sepiare,  liavinj» 
round  towers,  36  feet  in  diameter  at  each  corner,  according,'  to  Camden,  who  is 
corroborated  curiously  by  one  of  the  I'xston  letters  (N'(x  316,  dated  September, 
1471),  in  which  Sir  John  Paston  sends  a  rou;^h  sketch  of  the  jjround  plan  of 
(jresham  to  obtain  the  measurements  of  the  towers,  "  by  packthread  or  else 
measured  bv  vard."  The  sketch  shows  a  square  iilock  of  buildin;^  with  four  an;,'le 
circular  towers,  boldiv  projectinj^  from  the  walls  ;  those  on  the  N.W.  and  S.W. 
beinj{  of  small  diameter,  the  N.E.  one  nuich  larger,  while  the  S.E.  tower  is 
shown  of  very  larjje  dimensions  ;  the  drawbridj^e  appears  in  the  centre  of  the  N. 
front,  from  which  one  learns  that  the  moat  encircled  the  castle  close  to  the  walls. 
In  the  I'aston  letter  Xo.  31  is  mentioned  the  dispute  which  the  Paston  family  had 
in  1450  with  Lord  Molyns  re^ardinj.j  (Jresham,  which  place,  Sir  William  Paston, 
the  judjje,  had  acquired — one  half  from  Thomas  Chaucer,  and,  later,  the  other 
moiety,  which  had  been  possessed  bv  the  ancestors  of  Sir  William,  Lord  Molyns. 
who  was  killed  at  the  sie}.;e  of  Orleans  in  142S.  The  manor-house  had  been  built 
by  the  Stutevilles  before  the  time  oi  tlie  B.icoii--.  Kye  says  that  Lord  .Molyns 
came  to  Paston's  moated  house  at  Gresham,  in  the  absence  of  Paston,  and 
bcsief^ed  it  with  a  force  of  1000  men  ;  he  broke  open  the  outer  ;»ates,  and  forcibly 
carried  out  the  lady  of  the  house,  rilled  the  place  of  /,"200,  cut  the  door-posts 
throuf^h,  and  then  left,  remarkinjtj  that  if  iIkv  li.id  found  there  Paston's  friend, 
John  Damme,  they  would  have  killed  the  said  John. 

1 1 0  \l  S  I-^  f )  Iv'  I)  (uou.f.xislet,i) 

TH  IS  is  a  village  about  hve  miles  X.  of  Xorwich,  near  St.  Faith's,  and  close  to  it 
is  the  site  of  an  ancient  castle  belonj^inj^  to  the  lords  of  this  manor,  who  took 
their  name  from  the  place.  The  town  was  fust  j^iven  to  Robert  Malet,  Baron  of 
Eye,  after  the  Conquest,  and  he  enfeoffed  one  of  his  knij^hts,  Walter  de  Cadamo 
(said  by  some  to  have  been  his  vounj^er  brother),  who  had  attended  him  to 
Enj^land,  of  this  lordship,  to  be  held  of  the  honour  of  Eye.  Here  this  W.dter 
built  him  a  castle,  the  ruins  of  which,  even  in  Camden's  days,  were  overj^rown 
with  bushes  and  briars  ;  there  was  once  an  extensive  park  around  it.  Walter's 
sons  adopted  the  name  of  their  mother,  who  was  Isiibel  de  Cheyney,  but  only  the 
third  left  any  issue,  namely,  .1  dau^^hter,  Mar/^aret,  who  married  Hti;^h  de  Cressy,  a 


302  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

justice  itinerant  in  llie  twenty-first  year  of  Henry  II.  His  son  Roger  opposed 
King  John,  and  thereby  lost  his  lands,  but  his  son,  Hugh  de  Crcssy,  recovered 
them  from  Henry  111.  on  payment  of  a  fine  of  ..^loo. 

Soon  after,  this  estate  passed  in  marriage  to  the  FitzRoger  family,  of  Wark- 
worth,  Northumberland,  and  from  them,  by  successive  heiresses,  to  the  families  of 
de  Audlcy,  de  Ufford  (in  1374),  and  to  Sir  William  Bowet  (temp.  Henry  V.), 
whose  daughter  brought  it  to  Sir  Thomas  Dacre,  the  heir  of  Thomas,  Lord  Dacre, 
of  Gillesland,  and  with  this  family  the  lands  remained  till  37  Elizabeth,  when  a 
Dacre  heiress  married  Sampson  Leonard,  or  Lennard,  and  thenceforth  this  family 
became  the  Dacres  of  the  South  and  held  Horsford  till  the  middle  of  the  last 
century. 

Tlie  site  of  the  castle  may  still  be  traced  by  the  moat  which  encircled  it,  and  by 
the  keep  which  stood  about  50  feet  from  the  moat,  and  was  surrounded  by  its  own 
moat  ;  "  though  this  building  seems  to  have  been  rather  a  station  for  observation 
in  the  outward  works  of  the  castle,  for  the  area  on  top  is  too  small  to  iiave 
contained  a  building  of  any  size."  (Blomefield.)  There  are  also  some  circular 
earthworks  there. 


T 


MIDDLETON  (juuwr) 

HIS  \-ery  line  example  of  early  brickwork  stands  in  the  low  ground  near  the 
I'ailway,  three  miles  S.E.  from  King's  Lynn.  It  is  the  gatehouse  of  the 
castle  which  once  existed  here,  the  seat  of  the  Scales  family,  but  of  which  structure 
all  the  rest  has  vanished.  Hugh  de  Montford  obtained  the  manor  at  the  Conquest, 
and  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  it  belonged  to  Roger  de  Scales,  who  had  obtained 
it  through  his  wife  Muriel,  whose  great-grandson  Robert  was  summoned  to 
Parliament  (19  Henry  III.)  by  the  title  of  Lord  Scales.  His  son  Robert  attended 
Edward  I.  in  his  expedition  to  Gascony,  and  in  Scotland  (29  Edward  I.),  dying 
four  years  after.  The  grandson  of  this  baron,  also  Robert,  Lord  Scales,  was  called 
by  Edward  III.,  in  his  thirty-first  year,  to  the  siege  of  Calais,  "with  all  the  power 
he  could  raise."  The  estates  passed  from  father  to  son,  till  the  death  of  Lord 
Robert,  who  accompanying  Henry  \'.  into  France,  was  killed  (7  Henry  \'.)  at  the 
siege  of  Lover's  Castle  in  Xormandy  (Blomefield),  when  his  brother  Thomas 
succeeded  him.  This  baron  behaved  gallantly  in  the  French  wars,  with  the  regent 
Duke  of  Bedford,  and  was  made  a  Knight  of  the  Garter,  being  always  a  staunch 
Lancastrian.  On  the  entry  of  Edward,  Earl  of  March,  into  London,  with  the 
Earl  of  Warwick,  Lord  Scales  secured  the  Tower  of  London,  and  held  it  for  King 
Henry,  but  a  few  days  after,  when  the  victory  of  Northampton  (July  14)  had 
thrown  all  the  kingly  power  into  the  hands  of  the  Yorkists,  and  Edward  returned 
to  London  with  the  captive  King,  the  forces  in  the  Tower  declared  for  the  victors, 
and  Lord  Scales,  endeavouring  to  escape  in  a  wherry,  to  take  sanctuary  at  West- 
minster, was  recognised  by  some  men  of  Warwick's,  "who  waylaid  and  slew  him 


NORFOLK 


303 


with  iiKiiiy  darts  and  dajy^ers,  and  liis  liody  was  left  all  bloody  and  naked  at  the 

gate  of  the  Clink"  (a  prison).     His  son  dyinj,'  a  minor,  the  property  went  to  his 

sister  Klizabeth,  who  married  (2  Edward  IV.)  Anthony  Wodevile,  or  Woodville, 

son  and  heir  of  Richard,   Lord   Rivers,  the   Lord  Tre;isurer,  and  the  father  of 

Elizabeth,  Queen   to    Edward    1\'.      This   Anthony   was   made    Lord   Scales   by 

Edward  1\'.,  at  whose  death  in  April  14S3  he  was  seized  by  the  order  of  Richard, 

Uiike  of  Gloucester,  and  impriMund  at   Sheriff   Hutton  Castle,  Yorks,  where  he 

made  his  will,  bequeath- 

inj^  this  castle,  which  was 

then  known  as  Tirington 

Hall,  to   his  brother.  Sir 

Edward      Woodville. 

Shortly    after     he     was 

carried     to      Pontefract 

Castle,  and  beheaded  as 

a   pretended  traitor,  fo- 

j^etherwith  Lord  Richaid 

Grey  (son   of   his   sister, 

Queen     Elizabeth),      Sir 

Thomas    Vauj^han,   ant! 

Sir  Richard  Haute. 

On  the  accession  ol 
Heniy  VI 1.,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Sir  J. 
Howard,  and  wife  of 
John    de    Vere,    Earl    of 

Oxford,  was  found  heir  to  Elizabeth  Lady  Scales,  and  thus  Middleton  came  to 
this  great  Essex  family  ;  but  on  the  subsequent  failure  of  their  heirs  male,  it 
went  by  an  heiress,  in  1577,  to  Latimer,  Earl  of  Exeter,  whose  heiress  sold  the 
property  to  Sir  Thomas  Holland  in  1621.  In  1757  it  passed  to  Sir  Roger  Mostvn, 
wiiose  nephew  possessed  it  in  180S. 

The  old  fabric  remained  in  a  partly  ruined  state  until  about  twenty  years  a"o, 
when  it  was  purchased  by  Sir  Lewis  \V.  Jarvis  of  Lynn,  who  by  the  exercise  of 
considerable  taste  restored  the  gatehouse  to  a  habitable  condition,  and  added  a 
large  wing  on  the  site  of  a  former  building. 

Middleton  Tower,  although  acting  as  a  gatehouse  to  other  buildings,  is  a 
substantial  mansion  in  itself,  resembling  in  this  the  structures  of  Oxburgli,  in  the 
same  county,  of  Mackworth,  Derby,  Saltwt)od,  in  Kent,  and  otiiers.  It  can 
scarcely  be  dignihicl  with  the  name  of  castle,  but  built  in  an  age  when  domestic 
comfort  was  sought,  it  was  sufficiently  defended  against  anv  sudden  hostilitv. 

It  is  an  oblong  structure,  51  feet  long  by  27,  and  54  feet  high,  built  during  the 
reign  of  Henry  VI.  of  ^mall  red  bricks,  probably  of  Flemish  make.     .At  each  of 


.MIDDLETON 


304 


CASTLES   OF    F:NGLAND 


tiic  three  angles  is  an  octagonal  turret,  and  at  the  fourtli  a  square  one  containing 
the  staircase.  The  gateway  is  low-pointed,  and  over  it  is  a  good  oriel  window, 
witii  the  arms  of  Scales,  six  escalops  on  a  shield  in  a  garter.  The  archway  on  the 
N.  side  admits  to  a  courtyard  about  84  yards  by  46,  where  some  of  the  buildings 
and  lodgings  stood,  and  the  whole  is  surrounded  by  a  wide  moat,  supplied  with 
running  water  by  a  small  stream. 

At  the  distance  of  half  a  mile  from  the  tower,  on  high  ground  near  Middlfton 
Hall,  is  a  very  lofty  circular  mound,  now  covered  with  trees,  wJiich  mav  have 
once  held  an  early  fort,  or  may  have  been  a  look-out  station  for  the  tower,  which 
lies  low.  A  view  of  Middleton  Tower  as  it  was  in  18 10  forms  the  frontispiece  of 
vol.  vi.  of  Blomefield's  "History  of  Norfolk." 


NORWICH  {chief) 

OX  the  W.  side  of  the  Wensum  river,  which   bounded  the  old  city  on  the  X. 
and    E.,    a    hill   rises    from     Bracondale    towards    the    X.W.,    Ber    Street 
fi)ll()wing  the  centre  of  its  slope,  imtil  at  the  summit  there  is  a  steep  crest  which 

has  been  scarped  around,  and 
from  which  the  descent  is  pre- 
cipitous, entailing  steps  in  the 
streets  on  the  N.  and  \V.  sides. 
Here  was  the  great  strong- 
hold of  the  Iceni,  the  valiant 
opponents  of  the  Romans  in  the 
time  of  Xero  ;  they  in  all  pro- 
bability formed  the  circular 
rampart  on  the  hill  with  the 
mtjund,  upon  which,  a  thousand 
years  after,  the  Xormans  reared 
the  present  castle.  The  earth- 
works forming  the  stronghold 
were  quite  of  the  same  character 
as  those  of  Castle  Rising  and 
Castle  Acre,  of  Clare  in  Suffolk, 
Hedingham  in  Essex,  and  many 
others. 
The  castle  must  have  been  built  early  in  the  reign  of  William  I.,  since,  in  1074, 
Ralph  de  Guader,  Earl  of  the  East  Angles,  was  attacked  here  by  the  King's  forces. 
The  circumstances  are  notable,  as  they  led  to  the  destruction  of  the  great  Earl 
Waltheof,  the  last  hope  of  the  Saxons  of  England.  De  Guader  being  refused 
permission  to  marry  the  sister  of  FitzOsborne,  Earl  of  Hereford,  carried  out  the 
bride-ale  party  all  the  same,  and  assembled  his  friends  in  this  castle,  of  which  he 


NORWICH 


NOKIOLK 


305 


was  constahlf,  wliLii  .i  hmmi  u.i- jMottcd  ajjainsl  William,  wlio  was  absent  in  Maine. 
Walthcof,  liciii|^  present,  promised  his  concurrence,  but  soon  after  alterinj^  his  nnnd, 
took  into  his  confidence  his  wife  Juditli,  the  Conqueror's  niece,  who  havinj^  set 
lier  affections  on  some  one  else,  took  this  o|i|iortunity  to  ruin  lier  husband,  ant! 
betrayed  him  to  William.     Waltheof,  altli()U;4h  he  had    renounced  the  plot  and 


tmy^^^- 


„<>■■• 


NORWICH  AS   IT  WAS 


made  his  peace,  as  he  thou^^ht,  with  the  Kin;^,  was,  by  liis  wife's  ajjency,  brouj^ht 
to  the  block  at  Wilichester  and  beheaded,  to  the  lament  of  the  Enj^lish. 
William's  forces  soon  quelled  the  insurrection,  wliich  was  hastily  carried  out  ;  de 
Guader  fled  to  sea  on  llieir  approach,  leavinj^  Norwich  Castle  t<»  l>e  defended  by 
his  countess,  who,  however,  made  terms  with  the  besiegers,  and  surren<lered  her 
charge.  In  10H7,  on  the  occupation  of  the  throne  iiy  the  Red  Kinj^,  a  con- 
federacy of  barons  was  formed  aj^ainst  liim,  and  Roj^er  Hij^od  seized  this 
castle,  and  used  it  for  the  spoliation  of  the  country  in  its  vicinity.  When 
the  Kin^  li.id  recovered  it  he  j^ranted  it  to  Richard  de  Redvers,  Earl  of  Devon, 
i'lun  Mu;;h  Hi^od,  K.iri  of  Norfolk,  in  113'),  u|V)n  .1  rinnour  of  the  deatli  of 
Steplien,  took  forcible  possession  pf  the  cxstic,  Iml  when  the  Kmjj  canie  aj^inst 
him  in  jK-rson,  he  yielded  it  on  summons,  and  Stephen  j^ave  it  to  his  son, 
VOL.  I.  i  y 


3o6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Williiini  de  Blois,  Earl  of  Moitaij^nc,  wlio,  liowevcr,  was   turned  out    of  it  by 

Henry  II.  in  1155. 

In  1216,  when  tlie  Dauphin  was  called  over  to  the  assistance  of  the  Barons 
against  |ohn,  he  came  to  Norwich,  and  placed  a  garrison  in  the  castle,  which  he 
had  reduced  with  considerable  trouble  {Xoit  purvo  nc<lotio  :  Polydore  Virgil)  ;  and 
on  his  retirement  lie  delivered  the  castle  to  Hugh  Bigod.  During  the  early  years 
of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  Norwich  Castle  was  made  use  of  for  a  county  gaol, 
and  in  the  succeeding  reign  State  prisoners  also  were  placed  there  ;  and,  indeed, 
this  appears  to  have  been  the  use  to  which  Norwich  has  been  subjected  for  more 
than  650  years,  since  it  was  only  in  1884  that  the  fabric  was  purchased  by  the 
Town  Council,  and  has  since  been  converted  into  a  Museum. 

The  Bigods,  Earls  of  Norfolk,  became  extinct  (25  Edward  I.),  when  the  castle 
was  held  by  the  Crown.  In  46  Edward  III.,  it  is  mentioned  as  a  Royal  castle,  but 
in  so  ruinous  a  state  from  neglect  that  no  one  could  live  in  it.  No  historical 
occurrence  of  importance  is  chronicled  as  having  taken  place  at  Norwich  Castle. 
In  Edward  VI. 's  reign  (1549),  the  insurrection  in  favour  of  the  ancient  creed, 
headed  by  the  tanner,  Kett,  grew  to  dangerous  proportions,  but  the  Earl  of 
Warwick  put  the  rebels  to  flight  with  a  strong  body  of  troops,  and  Kett  was 
hanged  from  the  battlements  of  Norwich  Castle. 

The  form  of  the  ancient  earthworks  is  shown  by  Harrod  to  have  consisted  of  a 
large  central  circular  work  surrounding  the  mound  with  a  ditch  and  rampart,  on 
the  S.  side  of  which  was  an  outer  bailey  of  horseshoe  shape,  whose  extremities 
were  luiited  to  the  earthwork  of  the  central  fort,  both  of  these  works  having  a 
deep  ditch  and  the  vallum.  A  similar  work  on  the  E.  enclosed  a  space  still 
called  the  Castle  Meadow,  bounded  on  the  E.  by  what  is  now  King's  Street.  The 
Norman  keep  was  built  on  the  S.W.  part  of  the  great  mound,  which  was  scarped 
almost  scjuare,  and  it  was  enclosed  by  walls  and  towers,  some  of  which  are  shown 
still  standing,  in  a  drawing  given  by  Braun,  in  his  "  Theatrum  Urbium  Orbis 
Terrarum,"  published  in  1581.  The  entrance  was  on  the  S.  of  the  keep  by  a  stone 
bridge  over  the  ditch,  through  a  gatehouse  of  which  some  remains  are  shown 
in  Buck's  drawing  of  1738,  but  were  soon  after  destroyed.  The  only  remains 
of  these  Norman  works  now  to  be  seen  are  the  bases  of  two  towers  at  the  top  of 
the  bridge,  the  arch  of  the  bridge,  said  to  be  the  oldest  of  its  size  in  England, 
and  the  keep  itself,  though  this  has  been  greatly  defaced  by  restoration  about 
forty-five  years  ago.  All  the  domestic  buildings — halls,  chapel,  lodgings,  kitchens, 
&c.,  have  been  swept  away,  and  even  the  old  interior  of  the  keep  was  entirely 
destroyed  and  rebuilt  as  a  gaol,  while  the  exterior  was  refaced.  (TIic  r/fic  slioivs 
the  cki'atioii  before  tin's  teas  done.) 

■  'The  keep  is  nearly  a  square,  measuring  96  by  92  feet,  and  about  76  in 
height.  The  quoins  are  formed  of  pilasters  which  embrace  the  angle,  and  the 
faces  of  the  tower  are  divided  by  narrow  pilasters  which  reach  also  to  the  battle- 
ments.    The  basement  storey  was  quite  plain,  and  was  anciently  faced  with  flints  ; 


NORFOLK  307 

above  tliis  the  wIkjIc  wall  is  ornamented  with  arcades  in  relief  of  Norman  w(jrk 
almost  to  the  summit. 

The  entrance  was  by  a  forebiiildin|»,  c:ilied  Uij^od's  Tower,  as  is  found  at 
Rising  ;  it  is  on  the  K.  side,  and  contains  a  staircase  rising  from  the  S.E.  angle  ; 
it  had  two  floors,  the  upper  of  which  was  tlie  vestibule  to  the  grand  entrance 
through  a  finely  ornamented  doorway  under  a  large  arch.  The  interior  must  have 
resembled  Rising  on  a  larger  scale.  It  was  divided  into  two  equal  lialves  by  the 
centre  wall  running  E.  to  \V.,  on  each  side  of  which,  in  the  basement,  are  four 
dungeons.  The  lirst  floor  is  a  large  and  lofty  hall,  lighted  by  four  windows  on 
the  N.  side,  and  a  mural  gallery  runs  along  this  wall,  witli  mural  chambers  and 
garderobes,  as  at  Rising.  The  staircase  on  the  S.W.  corner  opens  into  this  room. 
In  the  S.E.  corner  is  a  room,  improperly  called  the  chapel,  probably  the  private 
chamber  of  the  Governor.  The  tower  was  covered  by  a  double  roof  of  high  pilcii, 
a  great  part  of  this  being  masked  by  the  parapet  of  the  side  walls. 

()XlirU'(,|i     HAL  I.  {minor) 

CANNOT  be  considered  as  a  ca.stle  ;  it  is  a  very  fine  example  of  a  moated  and  de- 
fensible mansion  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  early  lords  of  the  territory 
were  the  family  of  de  WeylatuI,  who  (>btaine<l  the  manor  3  Edward  I.,  and  the  later 
and  present  possessors,  the  Bedingtields,  have  descended  through  heiresses  from 
them  and  from  the  Tudenhams.  Sir  Edmund  Bedingfield  obtained  a  licence  from 
Edward  I\'.  in  1482  to  build  the  manor-house  and  hall  of  O.vburgh,  with  towers, 
battlements,  m.iciiicolations,  and  walls. 

The  structure  is  entirely  of  brick,  and  much  resembles  Queen's  College, 
Cambridge,  built  in  the  same  reign.  .A  bridge  of  three  arches,  successor  of  the 
drawbridge,  leads  to  the  great  gatehouse,  a  grand  and  massive  pile,  having  lofty 
octagonal  turrets  at  each  corner,  rising  to  So  feet  from  the  ground  level.  The 
arched  entrance  passage  is  21  feet  long,  and  gives  to  the  inner  courtyard,  on  the 
S.  side  of  which  is  the  great  tower,  and  on  the  N.  is  the  site  <if  the  great 
banqueting  hall,  which,  with  other  old  portions,  was  taken  down  in  1778. 
Various  buildmgs  of  the  castle  stand  round  the  yard,  and  beyond  them  is  the 
moat,  fed  by  a  running  stream,  .md  52  feet  broad.  The  Kuig's  room,  in  which 
Henry  VII.  was  lodged,  in  14H7,  is  over  the  gateway,  and  is  lined  with  ta|>estry 
of  that  d.ite.  Sir  Henry  IJedinglield,  grandson  of  the  founder,  came  to  the  sup|X)rl 
of  Queen  Mary  at  Framlingham  ((/.;•.),  with  140  fully-armed  retainers  ;  lie  was 
made  Governor  of  the  Tower  of  London  by  her,  .uid  in  th.it  capacity  acted  as 
gaoler  to  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  who  when  Queen,  visited  him  here 

The  .irchitecture  is  pure  Late  l'er|K-ndicular.     (I'arker.) 


3o8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

W O  R  M  E  G  A  Y   {non-cxisknt) 

THIS  place  is  seven  and  a  luilf  miles  from  Dowiiluim  Market,  in  the  Hat 
fen  country,  once  environed  with  water  ami  marshes.  It  was  of  some 
importance  in  Saxon  times,  and  in  early  Norman  reii^ns  the  Bardolpiis  and 
Warrens  liad  a  castle  there.  The  former  family  t)wned  the  manor  in  the  reit,ni  of 
Henry  11.,  and  their  seat  was  at  a  eastle  on  the  S.  side  of  the  village,  the  chief  and 
safest  entrance  to  which  was  by  a  causeway  on  the  \V.  side.  (Blomefield,  vii.  502.) 
The  castle  stood  on  a  mound  on  the  right  hand  of  the  road  entering  the  village 
from  O.xburgli,  and  was  the  head  of  the  barony. 

Y A R ]\I  O U T  1 1    (non-cxista,l) 

THIS  town  possL'ssed  a  eastle  once,  which  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  Iron! 
street,  close  to  the  shore,  antl  nearlv  opposite  to  the  "Newgate"  of  the  sea 
wall,  near  the  iiKnuul  bastion.  U  is  scarcely  mentioned  in  history,  and  nothing 
of  It  remains.  It  was  prob.iblv  Iniill  in  the  reign  of  Henry  111.,  or  Edwaril  1., 
when  the  town  of  ^■arnloulh  was  surrountletl  by  a  wall  and  .1  moat,  a  work 
commeneetl  in  1JS5.  There  were  four  turrets  .it  the  corners,  and  on  one  oi  these, 
or  on  its  roof,  was  carried  a  beact)n  for  ships  ,it  night,  and  for  signalling.  In  1550 
the  Corporation  apprt)priated  the  building  for  a  gaol,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish 
Armada  it  was  repaired,  and  its  beacons  were  again  erected.  The  upjxr  p.ut  was 
taken  down  in  i(>20,  and  the  next  ye.u"  tiie  whole  fabric  was  dismantleil  antl  lemoved. 

NON-EXISTENT  CASTLES  {>ui,wr) 

IN  a  historv  of  Norfolk,  bv  W.ilter  Kye   (published   1SS3),  the  author    mentions 
several  other  e.istles  which  appear  to  have  had  an  existence   in   the  county, 
but  of  which  verv  little,  or  nothing,  is  known,  and  which  have  quite  disappeared. 
These  are  as  follows  : 

At  tlREAT  H.M'THOYS  .1  licence  was  granteil  to  crenellate  a  house  to 
Robert  Bavnard  in  the  sixth  year  of  I'alward  11.;  of  this  structure  there  are 
slight  traces  only. 

At  CLAXTON,  a  licence  was  obtained  by  William  de  Kerdeston  (14  and  50 
Edward  HI.),  and  of  this  castle  there  are  slight  vestiges. 

At  SCL'LTON,  in  the  tlurteenth  ye.u-  of  Edward  II.,  a  licence  to  crenellate 
was  granteil  to  Constautine  de  Moilimei-,  but  no  traces  exist  of  the  building. 

At  LYNG,  and  ,ilso  .U  I>L.\KEWOK TH,  ni  Stoke,  John  de  Norwich  had 
licences  (17  Edwaril  III.)  for  fortifying  castles;  of  the  former  some  slight  traces 
remain,  but  there  are  none  whatever  of  the  latter  castle. 


Cambri&occ^birc 


H  V  R  X  K   (iion-rxisleiil) 

AI'  KW  miles  S.  of  Cambi  itl^L-,  wlicic  tlic  liiinic  stream  joins  llie  Oiise, 
was  tlie  castle  of  a  haiony  helongiiif^  to  Picott,  aiul  afterwards  to 
Ihr  IVveiels.  Then  it  was  liclcl  successively  by  the  Keeches,  the 
lliii  iiwyshes,  ami  liaj^ars  ;  and  linally  was  left  by  the  will  of  its  last 
owner,  whose  mansion-house  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  f)ld  works,  to  lidward  I., 
at  a  time  when  the  Roman  fashion  was  adopted  by  some  Enj^lish  barons  of 
makinj^  the  Sovereij^ii  their  heir  when  they  had  inclined  his  displeasure.  The 
castle  was  burnt  in  the  Barons'  War  (temp.  Henry  111.),  by  Kibald  de  Lisle. 
It  stood  on  risinj4  (.jroimd  i-ommaiidiii;4  a  wide  prospect  ovei'  the  country 
round. 


HUR\\I-:M.   {„n,i-rxislc,il) 

0\  llic  \'\.  side  of  the  county,  four  miles  from  Newmarket. 
Ill  Camden's  "  Britannia"  this  place  is  mentioned,  "where  was  a  castle, 
which  111  those  troublesome  times  of  Kin^  Stephen,  was  bravely  attacked  by 
(jcolfrey  Mandeville,  Karl  of  Essex  (a  person  who  lost  nuich  honour  by  his  unjust 
invasions  of  other  mens'  rij.;hts),  till  ni  urow,  shot  through  his  head,  freed  those 
countries  from  the  fears  and  tenors  |1k\-  Ii.kI  lonj^  been  under." 

The  castle  is  said  by  Lysons  to  have  belonj^ed  to  the  y\bbey  of  Ramsey  ; 
and  the  family  of  Tiptoft  (Tibetot),  Kails  of  Worcester,  possessed  the  manor  in 
1277. 

Little  is  preserved  concerninj^  the  history  of  this  fortress,  a  sketch  of  which  is 
preserved  in  a  MS.  in  the  liiitish  Museum.  In  Lysons'  time  the  remains  of  it  con- 
sisted of  a  piece  of  ruined  w.ill,  .ind  .1  rect.mj^ul.u'  trace  ol  extensive  earthworks, 
situated  in  a  close  a  little  to  the  W.  of  the  church,  within  the  manor  of 
Ramsey. 


3IO  CASTLES   OF    ENGLAND 

CAMBRIDGE  {non-existent) 

OX  the  N.  side  of  the  river,  across  the  bridge  and  adjoining  the  county  gaol, 
is  a  considerable  mound  of  earth,  called  the  Castle  Hill,  commanding  on 
its  summit  a  wide  view  of  the  colleges,  and  an  extensive  tract  of  flat  country. 
Camden  says  :  "  Here  is  a  large  old  castle  which  seems  to  have  lasted  its  time." 
It  was  built  bv  the  Conqueror  on  his  return  from  York  in  1068,  when  twenty- 
seven  houses  had  to  be  destroyed  to  furnish  a  place  for  it.  The  mound,  though 
supposed  to  be  of  Danish  origin,  may  be  an  earlier  ancient  British  earthwork, 
such  as  are  found  throughout  the  land  in  certain  strategical  points,  and  the 
value  of  which  was  recognised  by  successive  rulers,  Roman,  Saxon,  Danish 
and  Norman  ;  it  is  likelv  that  during  the  Danish  wars  a  fortitied  stockade  was 
erected  here. 

We  know  little  of  the  history  of  the  castle.  In  the  time  of  Stephen  it  was 
attacked  by  Geoffrev  de  Mandeville,  Earl  of  Essex,  who  was  slain  by  an  arrow 
during  the  assault.  King  John  enlarged  and  repaired  the  structure,  and  in  1215 
it  was  taken  by  the  rebellious  Barons,  but  was  recovered  soon  after  by  the  King. 
John  was  there  in  1216,  and  on  his  departure  the  castle  was  entrusted  to  the 
care  of  his  favourite,  Falk  de  Brent,  from  whom  the  Barons  again  captured  it. 
The  Dauphin  Louis  came  to  Cambridge  to  meet  these  Barons  in  council  after 
John's  death  in  1216.  In  1266,  during  the  siege  of  Kenilworth  by  the  Royal 
forces,  the  nobles  who  had  been  disinherited  and  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
inaccessible  swamps  about  Elv,  issuing  from  their  strongholds,  attacked  Cam- 
bridge, when  King  Henry  III.  came  up  immediatelv  to  the  rescue  with  an  armv  ; 
and  he  made  a  ditch  round  part  of  the  town  for  its  protection,  called  still  the 
King's  Ditch. 

King  Edward  !.,  in  1294,  lay  two  nights  in  this  castle.  The  demolition  of  the 
structure  appears  to  have  commenced  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  early  in 
the  fifteenth  century  the  castle  was  little  better  than  a  ruin.  Even  in  the 
fourteenth  century  it  was  chiefly  employed  as  a  prison.  There  was  a  magnificent 
hall  in  it,  the  stones  and  timber  of  which  were  begged  of  Henry  V.  by  the  Masters 
and  Fellows  of  King's  Hall  towards  building  their  chapel,  and  other  portions  of 
the  ruins  were  employed  in  building  Trinity  Chapel.  In  1557  some  materials 
from  the  castle  were  taken  for  the  mansion  of  Sir  John  Huddlestone  at  Scawston,* 
six  miles  from  Cambridge.  Gough  says  :  "  Only  the  keep  and  gatehouse  remain, 
and  two  bastions,  with  part  of  a  third  cast  up  in  the  Civil  War.  The  gate  now 
standing  was  built  temp.  Edward  I.  or  Henry  III."  Oliver  Cromwell  signed  a 
writ  to  fortify  this  castle,  and  added  two  bastions.     The  gatehouse,  which  was  a 

*  This  was  a  grant  to  him  by  Queen  Mary  in  return  for  the  destruction  of  his  house  by 
the  Cambridge  mob  after  he  had  given  shelter  to  Mary  and  her  train  on  their  way  to 
Framlingham  (q.v).  Hastening  away  from  Scawston  in  disguise  in  the  morning  she  beheld 
her  late  entertainer's  house  in  flames,  and  said,  "  I  will  build  him  a  new  one." 


I 


CAMBRIDGESHIRE  311 

fine  structure,  was  removed  so  lately  as  1842  in  order  to  make  room  for  the 
building  of  the  county  courts.  In  Fuller's  map,  engraved  1634,  only  the 
gatehouse  is  shown,  which  he  says  was  then  employed  as  a  prison  ;  but  in  the 
map  of  1574  there  are  four  chief  towers  beside  the  gatehouse,  and  tiie  old  keep,  a 
round  tower,  is  shown  standing  on  the  summit  of  the  lofty  mound  known  as 
Castle  Hill  ;  this,  however,  had  disappeared  in  1634,  and  the  mound  stood  naked  xs 
it  is  to-dav.     On  the  S.  side  of  the  gatehouse  were  some  lower  buildings,  shown  in 


m;  -:.>JJA\ 


I  — 
I- 


1; 

I- 


la 


'':^■/     "  '0'i'['r'"'"i'r'Tr'";"ri".'""/| 


/Or  I 


SITE  OF  CAMBRIDC.E  CASTLE  AS   IN    EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY 

Buck's  view,  taken  1731,  with  a  sloping  wall  and  a  flight  of  steps,  also  given  by 
Cirose.  Hut  all  this  is  now  gone.  The  masonry  of  the  wall  showed  several  rows 
of  herring-bone  work.  On  the  X.W.  and  X.E.  the  area  of  the  castle  is  bounded 
by  Cromwell's  earthworks,  within  which,  formerlv  the  castle  vard,  is  now  tlie 
county  gaol,  enclosed  in  an  octagon  conit.  It  was  designed  by  John  Howard  the 
philanthropist.     The  wall  and  ramparts  were  taken  down  in  1785. 

A  wild  legend  of  the  twelfth  century  is  preserved  by  (lervase  of  Tilbury,  being 
somewhat  the  same  as  the  story  recounted  in  the  "Host's  Tale  "  in  Marmion, 
canto  iii.,  which  is  connected  with  Cambridge  Castle.  It  is  the  story  of  a  knight 
named  Osbern,  who  having  been  told  that  any  warrior  who  entered  alone  and  at 
night  the  camp  of  \'andlebury,  on  the  Gogmagog  Hills,  will  be  encountered  by  a 
spectral  knight  well  armed  and  mounted,  determines  to  prove  the  reality  himself. 
He  accordingly  repairs  thither  with  his  squire,  whom  he  leaves  outside  and  lielow, 


312  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  approaching  tlic  camp  unattended,  is  attacked  by  an  unearthly  being,  armed 
cap-a-pie,  and  mounted  on  a  magnificent  jet-black  charger.  Osbern  brings  him 
down  with  his  lance,  but  receives  a  wound  on  the  thigh  from  his  ghostly 
opponent.  He,  however,  seizes  the  bridle  of  the  black  steed  and  leads  it  away  to 
his  squire,  who  brings  the  charger  into  the  courtyard  of  Cambridge  Castle,  where 
it  is  tied  securely  with  strong  ropes,  and  is  watched  all  night  by  a  crowd  of  people. 
As  morn  approaches,  the  steed  becomes  rampant  and  furious,  pawing  the  ground 
and  snorting  with  iiery  rage  ;  but  at  cock-crow  he  bursts  his  cords,  and  darting 
across  the  court,  vanishes  1  The  story  also  relates  how  the  wound  of  the  knight, 
being  healed,  ever  bleeds  afresh  each  year  on  the  recurring  date  of  his  encounter 
with  the  spectral  foe. 

CAMPS  CASTLE  {nou-cxistcui) 

BV  the  Gogmagog  Hills,  S.E.  of  Cambridge,  are  to  be  found  the  moat  and  the 
foundations  of  a  castle,  the  ancient  possession  of  the  De  Veres,  Earls  of 
Oxford  {sec  Hedixgham,  Essex).  The  eldest  son  of  Sir  George  Vere,  who  (temp. 
Henry  VIII.)  succeeded  to  the  earldom,  was  called  "  Little  John  of  Camps,"  from 
his  residence  here.  (Murray.)  In  Buck's  drawing  of  1731,  considerable  remains 
are  shown,  but  in  1738  the  greater  part  of  the  ruins  fell  down.  Camden  says  that 
this  castle  was  given  to  Hugh  de  Vere,  according  to  the  inquisition,  on  condition 
that  he  should  be  chamberlain  to  the  King,  a  post  which  Aubrey  de  Vere  had 
obtained  from  Henry  II. 

This  is  said  to  have  been  the  scene  of  the  encounter  between  the  knight  and 
the  spirit  warrior  of  the  jet-black  steed  as  related  in  the  account  of  Cambridge 
Castle. 

Buck's  drawing  shows  a  lofty  rectangular  tower  of  live  stages,  the  two  lower 
ones  larger  than  the  upper,  with  offsets  and  corbel  mouldings  marking  the  floor 
levels.  The  windows  are  square  headed  with  double  and  triple  lights,  some  having 
gables.  There  appears  a  long  gabled  building  attached  to  the  tower,  having 
windows  of  a  later  date,  and  the  whole  is  surrounded  bv  an  ancient  brick  wall  and 
a  moat.     The  place  is  the  property  of  the  Charterhouse,  London. 

W I S  B  E  A  C  H   {non-existent) 

A  CASTLE  was  reared  here  by  order  of  the  Conqueror  to  command  the 
mouth  of  the  Ouse,  which  then  flowed  in  its  old  channel  at  this  point ; 
now  the  river  flows  into  the  Wash  at  the  town  of  Kings  Lynn.  This  castle  appears 
to  have  been  destroyed  during  a  great  storm  and  inundation  in  the  year  1236,  and 
on  the  site  of  it  the  Bishop  of  Ely  built  a  new  castle,  which  was  one  of  the  chief 
residences  of  that  See,  and  was  rebuilt  by  Bishop  Morton  in  1480. 

It  afterwards   became  a   Royal   prison  :   here  the  last  Abbot  of  Westminster, 


CAMBRIDGESHlKh  313 

John  F'eckeiihaiii,  was  conliiud  lor  many  years  (temp.  Elizabeth),  and  licre  he 
died.  Cateshv  also,  the  (hmpowder  Plot  conspirator,  was  contined  here.  It  is  s;iicl 
that  Kiii;4  Jolm  lodged  at  the  old  castle  on  October  7,  1216,  the  niyht  previous  to 
his  disastrous  attempt  to  cross  tlie  Wash  with  his  army,  wlieii  he  lost  his  rejjalia 
and  baj^j^a^e  and  treasure,  which  so  irritated  and  disturbed  his  mind  that  an 
accession  of  the  sickness  from  which  he  suffered  resulted  and  he  died  ten  days 
afterwards. 

Only  the  foundations  are  now  to  be  seen,  the  site  lu-inj^  partly  laid  out  xs  an 
ornamental  garden,  and  partly  bnilt  on. 


VOL.   I.  2  R 


KIMBOLTON 


Iftuntingbonsbire 


BUCKDEN  TOWERS,   or  PALACE  (;»/«or) 

THREE  AND  A  HALF  miles  SAV.  of  Huntingdon,  was  a  defensible 
palace  of  the  Bishops  of  Lincoln,  to  whom  the  manor  was  granted 
temp.  Henry  L  by  the  Abbot  of  Ely,  as  a  compensation  for  the  privi- 
lege of  turning  his  abbacy  into  a  bishopric.  It  is  constructed  chiefly 
of  brick,  and  is  surrounded  with  a  moat.  Leland  says  it  was  built  by  Bishop 
Rotherham,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  it  was  finished  by  his  successor,  Bishop 
Russel.  Large  sums  were  expended  on  the  fabric  in  later  times  by  various  prelates, 
as  late  as  the  reign  of  Charles  H.  The  palace  consists  of  two  quadrangles;  the 
chief  features  being  the  fine  entrance  gatehouse,  with  its  circular  arched  doorway, 
its  battlements  and  watch-turret,  and  the  keep,  with  octagonal  turrets  rising  from 
the  ground.  There  are  several  very  spacious  apartments,  and  the  situation  of 
the  palace  is  pleasant  and  picturesque. 


C  O  N  N I N  G  T  O  N    {mn-existcni) 

CAMDEN  writes  of  this  place,  the  property  of  his  friend  and  patron,  Sir  Robert 
Cotton,  the  antiquary,  "where  within  a  square  ditch  are  traces  of  an  ancient 
castle"  which,  like  Saltrey,  had  been  the  gift  of  King  Canute  to  Torquil  the  Dan?. 


HUNTINGDONSHIRE  315 

Afterwai  cK  the  castle  and  vill  came  to  Waltheof,  son  of  Siward,  Earl  of 
NortluimliLiland,  Earl  of  Hiintiii^^doii,  who  married  Judith,  the  Conqueror's  own 
sister's  daughter,  by  whose  eldest  dauj;l)ter  it  came  int(j  the  royal  family  of 
Scotland;  for  she  married,  secondly,  David,  Earl  of  Huntinj^don,  who  afterwards 
ascended  the  throne  of  Scotland.  He  was  the  younger  son  of  Kinj^  Malcolm 
Ceaiiiiiore,  and  Marj^aret,  his  wife,  was  of  the  Saxon  blood  royal,  bein;^  the  jjrand- 
dau^liter  of  Edmund  Ironsides.  David's  son  was  Henry,  and  Henry  had  a  son, 
David,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  by  whose  youngest  daughter  Isabel  Connington  and 
other  estates  descended  to  Robert  the  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland,  who  was  buried  at 
Saltrey,  near  by,  in  a  Cistercian  .ibbey  there,  which  at  the  Reformation  was  granted 
by  Henry  \'lll.  to  Sir  Richard  Cromwell,  but  of  which  building  no  traces  now 
remain.  From  Bernard,  youngest  son  of  the  Bruce,  who  inherited  Connington, 
was  descended  Sir  Robert  Cotton.  Dr.  Stukeley,  travelling  along  the  old  Roman 
Hermen  Street,  near  here,  in  1722,  says  :  "  I  thought  it  piety  to  turn  half  a  mile 
out  of  the  road  to  visit  Conington,  the  seat  of  the  noble  Sir  Robert  Cotton,  where 
he  and  the  great  Camden  have  often  sat  in  councel  upon  the  antiquitys  of  Brittan. 
I  was  concerned  to  see  a  stately  old  house  of  hewn  stone  large  and  handsom  by  in 

dismal  ruin,  the  deserted  lares  and  the  genius  of  the  place  fled In   the 

ruins  of  the  Saltrys  he  buried  Robert  Brus,  lord  of  Anandale  in  Scotland,  and  of 
Cleveland  in  England,  with  Isabel  his  wife,  from  whom  the  Scottish  branch  of 
our  royal  family  is  descended,  .md  who  was  great-grandfather  of  King  Robert  the 
Bruce. " 

The  place  is  two  miles  S.W.  from  the  railway  at  Holme.  The  mansion  built  by 
Sir  Robert  Cotton  was  pulled  down  by  his  grandson  Sir  John,  with  the  exception 
of  a  stone  colonnade  in  front.  A  gloomy  interest  attaches  to  Connington  Castle, 
since  Sir  Robert,  soon  after  1625,  when  Fotheringhay  Castle  was  destroyed, 
became  the  purchaser  of  the  great  Hall  of  that  fortress,  the  building  in  which 
the  unfortunate  Queen  Mary  Stuart  had,  some  forty  years  before,  been  tried, 
and  in  which  she  was  beheaded.  He  removed  the  whole  fabric  to  Connington, 
and  it  is  stated  by  Mr.  Bonney  in  his  "History  of  Fotheringhay,"  that  in  all 
probability  the  arches  and  columns  in  the  lower  part  of  Connington  Castle  are 
those  which  we  know  divided  the  great  Hall  into  a  nave  and  two  aisles  ;  a  not 
uncommon  form  of  erection,  which  we  see  in  the  halls  at  Winchester,  Oakham, 
and  Leicester.  These  columns,  then,  must  have  witnessed  the  execution  of  the 
poor  Queen. 

ELTON    HAI.I.   (uiinor) 

WAS  the  seat  of  the  ancient  family  of  Sapcott,  one  of  whom,  Sir  Richard 
Sapcott,  was  sheriff  of  Huntingdonshire  (y  Edward  l\'.).  There  never  was 
a  perlect  castle  here,  but  there  remains  the  gatehouse,  a  curious  towel  of  the  old 
mansion,  rebuilt  after  the  Restoration,  which  is  a  line  example  of  lifteenlh-century 


3i6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

work,  having'  "  very  bold  machicoulis  carrying  the  battlement  and  alure,  with  an 
octat,'<)nal  watch-turret  ;  the  archway  is  four-centred,  and  the  windows  are  square- 
headed."     (Parker.) 

HUNTINGDON   (non  -existeni) 

WHEN  Edward  the  Elder,  in  918,  had  defeated  the  Danes  at  Bedford  {icc 
Tamworth,  Leicestershire),  he  marched  along  the  Ouse  river  to 
where,  on  a  rising  ground  past  Godmanchester,  across  the  river,  was  the 
"  Hunters'-down,"  a  post  recently  abandoned  by  the  Danes,  and  of  much 
importance,  as  it  commanded  the  passage  of  the  Ouse.  Here  he  raised  a  strong 
fortress,  the  mound  of  which  still  marks  its  site,  together  with  another  mound 
on  the  opposite  side  against  it.  These  wooden  stockaded  fortalices  of  the  Saxons 
aided  greatly  the  domination  of  England  by  the  Normans,  who,  not  only  by 
their  means  were  able  quickly  to  perceive  the  strong  and  important  military 
points  for  occupation  in  the  country,  but  generally  found  in  each  post  a  lofty 
artificial  mound,  the  earth  of  which  had,  after  the  lapse  of  ages,  become 
sufficiently  consolidated  to  receive  the  foundations  and  sustain  the  enormous 
weight  of  their  massive  keeps,  which  they  could  otherwise  have  reared  only  upon 
live  rock,  or  an  equally  solid  base. 

Cotton  asserts  that  Huntingdon  Castle  was  erected  by  the  Conqueror,  who 
was  here  in  1068  ;  and  it  is  said  to  have  been  presented  by  Stephen  to  David, 
King  of  Scotland.  Henry  II.,  finding  the  place  a  retreat  for  rebels,  ordered  it  to 
be  razed  to  the  ground.  This,  however,  could  scarcely  have  been  carried  out 
completely,  as  we  find  that  De  Bohun,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Hereford, 
and  one  of  the  guardians  of  Magna  Charta,  died  in  1265,  possessed  of  the  castle 
of  Huntingdon,  or  what  remained  of  it.  The  generally  received  story  is,  that 
there  were  such  frequent  contentions  for  the  possession  of  this  castle  between  the 
Scots  and  the  powerful  family  of  St.  Liz,  that  Henry,  in  one  of  his  towering  rages, 
swore  that  this  cause  of  dispute  should  exist  no  longer,  and  decreed  its  demolition. 
Then,  while  degrading  himself  at  the  tomb  of  Becket,  in  1174,  he  gave  orders  for 
the  assembling  of  an  army  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London  ;  and  when,  in  July 
of  that  year,  he  received  word  of  the  capture  of  William  the  Lion,  he  started  at 
the  head  of  his  troops  and  advanced  to  Huntingdon,  believing  that  the  Scots,  who 
held  the  castle,  would  at  once  surrender  it,  now  that  their  King  was  in  his  power. 
And  this  they  did,  gaining  permission  to  leave  "  scot-free  "  only,  that  is,  safe  in  life 
and  limb  ;  then  he  pulled  down  the  castle. 

Regarding  this  contest  for  its  possession  :  When  Waltheof  was  made  Earl  of 
Northumberland  and  Huntingdon  by  William  1.,  he  married  Judith,  the 
Conqueror's  niece,  whose  daughter,  Maud,  conveyed  her  inheritance  in  marriage 
first,  to  Simon  de  Liz,  and,  secondly,  to  King  David  1.,  son  of  Malcolm  Ceanmore, 
King  of  Scotland,  and  the  sainted  Margaret,  his  wife,  the  niece  of  the  Confessor. 


HUNTINGDONSHIRE  317 

By  this  marriage  tlie  Saxon  and  Scottish  dynasties  were  fused,  and  in  this 
Scottish  male  hne  tliat  earldom  and  the  lordship  of  Hiuitinndon  continued  until 
Isabel,  ilauj^iitei-  and  heiress  oi  David  I.,  Karl  <jf  Huntin;4don,  the  brother  of  the 
Scots  King,  William  the  Lion,  and  Malcolm  the  Maiden,  brought  both  in 
marriage  to  Robert  le  Brus  (sir  COXXINUTOX),  great-grandfather  of  King  Rol>ert 
the  Biuce  {sir  also  KOTHERlxtiHAV,  XoUTll.iXTS).  The  castle  stood  in  an 
excellent  position  for  a  fortress,  bounded  S.  by  the  river,  over  which  the  site  rises 
abruptly  to  a  considerable  lieight,  and  embracing  from  its  summit  a  view  over  a 
very  wide  expanse  of  country.  No  vestiges  of  buildings  exist,  but  there  are  traces 
of  foundations  remaining  in  the  uneven  surface.  The  outer  nimparts  enclose  an 
area  of  several  acres,  being  sijuare  in  ligure,  with  the  angles  refunded  off.  The 
chief  entrance  was  on  the  E.,  and  the  whole  w;is  surrounded  by  deep  ditches. 
The  mound  of  Edw.ucl  the  Elder  was  surrounded  also  by  a  moat. 

The  shape  and  area  afford  strong  evidence  of  a  Roman  origin,  and  it  is  most 
probable  that  here  was  the  site  of  the  station  Dun^siponte,  rather  than  half  a  mile 
off  at  Godmanchester,  which  is  low-lying,  and  an  unlikely  situation  for  a  camp. 
Stukeley  is  of  this  opinion. 

KIMiiOl.TOX    CASTF-P:  (c/ii>/) 

THE  magnilicent  seat  of  the  iJukes  of  Manchester,  is  built  on  the  remains 
of  an  ancient  castle  of  unknown  but  ver>'  remote  origin.  Leland,  writing 
before  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  says  of  the  existing  structure  :  "  It  is 
double  dyked,  and  the  building  of  it  metely  strong  :  it  longed  to  the  Mande- 
villes.  Earls  o(  Essex.  Sir  Richard  Wingtield  built  new  fair  lodgyns  and  galleries 
upon  the  old  foundation  of  the  castle."  Camden,  writing  some  fifty  years  later, 
believes  Kimbolton  to  have  had  originally  the  name  Kinibantum,  and  to  have  been 
the  seat  anciently  of  the  Mandevilles,  then  of  the  Bohims,  Earls  of  Hereford :  next 
of  the  Staffords,  and  after  them  to  have  passed  to  the  Wingfields.  Sir  Richard 
Wingtield,  K.(].,  twelfth  son  of  Sir  John  of  Letheringham,  Suffolk,  Knight,  and 
Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  married  first,  Katherine,  daughter  of 
Richard,  Earl  Riveis,  .uid  widow  of  Henry  StafTord,  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
after  whose  attainder  he  obtained  a  grant  of  Kimbolton  Castle  and  lordship  from 
Henry  VIII.,  with  whom  he  stood  in  high  esteem.  He  was  sent  by  Henry  ;us 
ambassador  to  Spain,  and  dying  there,  was  buried  at  Toledo,  when  his  son,  Sir 
James,  sold  Kimbolton  to  Sir  Henry  Montague,  third  son  of  Sir  Edward  Montague, 
the  son  of  a  Northampton  sipiire,  who  was  a  great  lawyer  (temp.  Henrv  \'lll.) 
.md  became  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Conunons,  advancing  into  sjucial  favour  with 
llie  King,  who  appointed  him  one  of  the  sixteen  executors  of  liis  will,  and 
g()vernt)rs  of  his  son,  Edward  VI.  Connected  with  this  man's  oftice  as  SjUMker, 
there  is  a  story  exhibiting  forcibly  the  persuasive  action  by  which,  in  Tudor  limes, 
monarchs  obtamed  their  supplies.     .Monl.igue  i>  sent  fm,  .is  Speaker,  by  Henry, 


3i8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  comint^  into  the  presence,  kneels  before  him.  "  Ho,  they  will  not  let  my  Bill 
pass,"  says  the  King ;  then,  laying  his  hand  on  Montague's  head,  adds  :  "  Unless 
that  Bill  is  passed  by  such  a  time  to-morrow,  by  such  a  time  to-morrow  this  head  of 
yours  will  be  off."  Whereon  he  applied  himself  with  such  diligence  and  effect  in 
arguing  against  the  objections  of  the  members  in  opposition,  that,  before  many  hours 
had  passed,  the  Bill  was  passed  also,  and  Henry  got  his  supplies.  His  third  son, 
Henrv,  the  purchaser  of  Kimbolton,  was  likewise  a  great  lawyer,  and  was  made  Lord 
High  Treasurer  bv  James  I.,  who  created  him  Lord  Montague  of  Kimbolton  and 
Viscount  Mandeville,  choosing  the  name  of  the  oldest  possessors  of  his  property 
for  his  second  title.  In  1626,  Charles  I.  made  him  Earl  of  Manchester,  and  his 
eldest  son,  Edward,  became  the  celebrated  Parliamentary  General,  who,  being  born 
at  Kimbolton,  was  a  fellow-countryman  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  His  grandson  was 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  Duke  of  Manchester  by  George  1.  in  1719,  at  which  period 
the  castle  was  almost  rebuilt. 

Kimbolton  formed  part  of  the  jointure  of  Queen  Katherine  of  Arragon,  after 
her  divorce  was  effected.  In  1534,  when  Henry  VIII.  was  ridding  himself  of  her, 
he  first  directed  that  she  should  go  to  the  castle  of  Fotheringhay,  in  Northants  ; 
but  she  objected  on  account  of  the  malaria  prevalent  there,  being  in  very  weak 
health.  So  Kimbolton  was  chosen  for  her,  where  also  the  air  was  said  to  be 
noxious  on  account  of  the  damp  situation,  and  thither  the  poor  e.\-Queen  was 
forcibly  taken  in  the  month  of  December.  The  castle  is  described  as  a  very  strong 
place  in  a  cross-country  valley,  guarding  the  road  between  Bedford  and  Hunting- 
don ;  and  here  on  January  7,  1535-6,  little  more  than  a  vear  after  her  arrival, 
Katherine  faded  and  died.  The  chamber  in  which  she  expired  is  shown  in  the 
castle ;  it  is  hung  with  tapestry  which  covers  a  little  door  leading  to  a  closet,  still 
called  after  the  Queen,  whose  ghost  is  said  to  haunt  the  structure.  One  of  her 
portmanteaux  is  shown  also,  covered  with  red  velvet  and  having  the  letters  K.  R. 
with  the  Queen's  crown  upon  it. 

There  is  a  plot  of  ground  about  a  mile  W.  of  Kimbolton,  called  Castle  Hill, 
where  are  the  appearances  of  ancient  buildings  and  the  marks  of  ditches. 


r- 

1*^^^^^ 

i^ 

i 

• 

ROCKINGHAM 


IRortbainptonehire 


BARXWELL   ST.    ANDREWS  (minor) 

THIS  village  is  on  the  E.  side  of  the  county,  bordering  on  Himtingdon,  and, 
like  the  adjoining  parish  of  Barnwell  All  Saints,  is  said  to  derive  its  name 
from  certain  springs  of  water,  called  holy  wells,  of  wiiich  there  are  several  in  both 
parishes,  believed  to  possess  hidden  healing  virtues,  it  being  an  ancient  custom  in 
the  district  to  immerse  sickly  children,  or  bairns,  in  their  waters,  with  devotional 
exercises,  for  the  supposed  benefiting  of  their  bodies. 

in  the  time  of  Henry  I.  a  castle  was  built  here,  about  1132,  upon  the  Castle 
Hill,  by  Reginald  le  Moine,  who  held  the  manor  of  the  Abbot  of  Ramsey  in 
Hunts.  Another  le  Moine,  Berenger  by  name,  iss;ud  to  have  rebuilt  this  castle  in 
1264,  and  ten  years  later,  on  inquirv  being  made  by  Edward  I.  as  to  the  authority 
and  warrant  on  which  he  had  built  it,  Uerenger  is  stated  to  have  sold  or  ceded  his 
whole  right  to  the  castle  and  manor  to  the  abbot,  under  whom  he  held  it  : 
perhaps  he  was  forced  to  do  so,  as  we  hear  of  his  conunitting  acts  of  hostility 
against  the  said  abbey  and  its  monks.  The  castle  and  m.uior,  at  all  events, 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  abbey  till  the  dissolution,  when  (3J  Henry  VIII.) 
the  property  was  granted,  with  other  Church  laiuls,  to  Sir  Henn»*  Montague,  Knt., 


320 


CASTLES    OF   ENGLAND 


£n/ra 


Chief  Justice  of  the  Kin^^'s  Bench,  and  ancestor  of  the  Dukes  of  Manchester  (<.cc 
KiMBOl.rox,  HrXTS),  in  whose  faniiiy  it  remained  at  the  beginning  of  the  present 
centui'V.  It  was  tlie  residence  of  Sir  Eclwaid  and  of  his  descendants,  hut  after- 
wards was  partially  demolished. 

The  remains  of  this  castle  are  a  large  quadrangular-walled   court,  with  four 
huge  circular  towers  at  the  corners  ;    the  walls  are  lofty,  but  are  onlv  3  feet  in 

thickness  ;  three  of  the  curtain  faces 
remain,  but  the  \V.  face  is  down.  On 
the  S.E.  side  the  grand  gateway  still 
exists,  flanked  by  two  circular  towers  ; 
it  has  two  pointed  arches  and  an  open- 
ing for  the  portcullis.  There  was  a 
good  chamber  over  the  entrance,  and 
on  each  side  of  it  were  doors  opening 
into  rooms  in  the  towers.  A  postern 
also  exists  on  the  \V.  side,  "  with 
doors  into  the  bastions  and  door  cases 
still  entire."  (Bridges.)  The  present 
dwelling-house,  belonging  to  the  Duke 
of  Buccleuch,  was  built  early  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  about  50  yards 
from  the  old  thirteenth-century  castle, 
and  out  of  its  stones. 

Regarding  the  rise  of  the  Montagu 
family,  it  is  said  that  when  Queen 
Isabella  and  her  companion  Mortimer  were  plotting  at  Nottingham  Castle  (g.!'.) 
against  the  young  King  Edward  III.,  it  was  noticed  that  his  friend,  de  Montecute, 
rode  away  secretly  one  morning  from  the  castle  ;  that  very  night  he  returned  at 
dark  with  a  force  and  accompanied  by  the  King,  and  gained  access,  by  the  gallery 
through  the  rock  (as  related  under  Nottixgham),  to  the  private  apartments  of 
the  Queen,  where  they  made  prisoner  of  Mortimer.  In  1337  Edward  made  Mont- 
acute  Earl  of  Salisbury,  and  gave  him  Wark  Castle,  in  Northumberland,  where 
occurred  the  story  of  his  beautiful  Countess  and  Edward  III.     (Scf  WiXDSOR.) 


ff/'air 


J'fair 


BARNWELL   ST.    ANDREWS 


FOTHERINGHAY   {uon-existmt) 

THE  site  of  this  famous  fortress  is  near  the  N.E.  border  of  the  county,  about 
seven  miles  from  Peterborough,  and  near  the  Etton  station  of  the  railway 
from  that  town  to  Northampton.  The  Roman  Hermen  Street,  from  Huntingdon  to 
Stamford,  ran  not  far  off  to  the  eastward,  and  a  short  ancient  road  from  this  crossed 
the  river  Nene  at  a  ford  here,  on  its  way  to  the  high  ground,  hence  originated  the 
mound  on  which  the  Plantagenet  keep  was  erected.     The  Conqueror  gave  the 


NORTHAMPIONSHI  Ri- 


al' 


hinds  to  Judith,  liis  niece,  wile  to  \V:iltlie(jl,  the  Saxon  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
at  whose  execution  by  William  at  Winchester,  his  daughter  Maud  succeeded  to 
the  lordship  of  Fotheringhay,  and  brouj^ht  it  in  marriage  fust  to  Simon  de  St.  Li/, 
and  afterwards  to  David  I.,  King  of  Scotland,  from  whom  it  descended  to  his 
successors,  as  did  Huntinj,'don  and  Conninj^'ton  ((/.:■.).  The  place  continued 
with  the  Scottish  princes  until  it  came  to  Devorj^uilla,  fourth  in  descent  from 
David  I.,  tile  wife  of  John  de  Haiiol,  and  mother  of  John  Baliol,  who  was  made 


KOTHERIXGHAV  AS   IT  WAS 


Kinj,'  of  Scotland  ;  then  the  Scottish  possession  ceased.  Kotherinyhav  Cistle  was 
probably  built  by  Maud's  first  husband,  Simon  de  St.  Liz,  who  also  built  the 
castle  of  Northampton  in  1084,  beinjf  second  Earl  of  Northampton. 

In  5  Henry  1 1 1.  (1  220),  William  de  Forlilnis,  Earl  of  Albemarle  and  Molderness, 
surprised  and  captured  this  castle,  then  under  Kanulph,  Earl  of  Chester,  and 
puttiii}^  a  {garrison  into  it,  despoiled  and  plundeied  the  adjacent  country:  in 
29  Henry  III.  the  Crown  took  possession  of  the  castle  and  the  lands.  Edward  II. 
j^ranted  Kotherinf^hay  to  John  de  Britain,  Eai  1  of  I^ichmond,  at  whose  death  Ih)|Ii 
castle  and  manor  jiassed  to  his  j^randdaui^liter,  .\I.iry  de  St.  I'ol,  relict  of  Aymer  tie 
Valence,  Eai  1  of  Pembroke,  who  was  killed  at  a  tournament  on  his  third  wedchn;^ 
day  (.«•(•  Mrri'OKl),  NOKTlirMHi:Kt..\ND),  and  at  her  deati)  (51  Edward  ill.)  that 
Kinji  conferred  the  whole  upon  liis  fifth  son,  Edmund  Umj^ley,  Earl  of  Cambridjje, 
who  was  created  Duke  of  ^■ork.  By  an  iniiuisition  l.ikeii  previously  this  castle  is 
stated  to  be  well  built  of  stone,  liavinj^  one  lar;4e  hall,  two  ch.uul>er!»,  two  cha|x-ls, 
kitchen  and  liikelmuse,  also  a  j^ateliouse  with  chamlK-r  over  it,  and  a  drawbridjic 

vol..  I.  2  s 


322  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

beneatli.  Within  tlie  aistic  walls  were  the  manor-house  with  houses  and  offices, 
a  gate  with  a  room  over  it,  and  an  orchard,  the  whole  site  covering  about  ten 
acres.     There  was  also  a  great  park. 

At  this  date  the  castle  must  have  fallen  into  disrepair  and  decay,  and  its  new 
possessor  set  to  work  to  rebuild  it  ;  he  especially  strengthened  it  by  adding  the 
keep  on  the  mound,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  shell  polygonal  tower,  with 
buildings  attached  at  the  E.  side,  so  that  the  building  assumed  the  form  known  as  a 
"fetter-lock,"  by  which  name  it  was  thereafter  called  ;  this,  indeed,  seems  to  have 
been  the  favourite  device  of  Edmund's  family,  and  a  falcon  enclosed  in  a  fetter- 
lock was  depicted  on  the  windows  of  the  church. 

Edmund,  Duke  of  York,  had  two  sons,  Edward  and  Richard,  and,  dying  1402, 
was  succeeded  bv  the  elder,  Edward,  Earl  of  Rutland,  who  became  Duke  of  York, 
and  was  killed  at  Agincourt,  being  pressed  on  the  ground  and  so  stifled  in  his 
armour;  he  was  brought  home  and  buried  at  Fotheringhay.  He  left  no  issue,  and 
his  brother,  Richard,  created  Earl  of  Cambridge,  1414,  having  been  beheaded  at 
Southampton,  in  1415,  for  a  conspiracy  against  Henry  V.,  the  castle  and  lands 
devolved  upon  his  nephew,  Richard,  the  son  of  his  brother  who  had  married  Anne 
Mortimer.  This  second  Richard  was  the  Duke  of  York  who  was  the  leader  of  the 
White  Rose,  and  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Wakefield,  the  father  of  Edward  IV., 
and  also  Richard  III.,  who  is  said  to  have  been  born  here.  Thus  Fotheringhay 
became  the  residence  of  the  House  of  York,  and  its  chiuxh  their  burial  place  ; 
Duke  Richard's  widow.  Cicely  Neville,  "  the  Rose  of  Raby,"  lived  here  for  many 
years,  holding  receptions  in  the  throne-room  of  Fotheringhay  like  a  Queen.  She 
died  thirty-six  years  after  her  husband,  at  Berkhamstead,  and  was  removed 
hither  for  burial.  In  1469,  Edward  IV.  came  here  by  water  from  Croyland  to  join 
his  Queen,  who  was  living  at  Fotheringhay. 

Henry  VII.  settled  this  property  on  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  for  her  lifetime,  and 
Henry  VIII.  apportioned  it  in  dower  to  his  Queen,  Catherine  Parr.  In  Queen 
Mary's  reign  the  castle  was  used  as  a  State  prison,  Edward  Courtney,  the  last 
Earl  of  Devon  of  his  race,  being  confined  here  in  1554  for  his  alleged  share  in  the 
Wyatt  rebellion  ;  and  in  the  next  reign  we  come  to  that  tragic  use  of  the  fortress 
by  Elizabeth,  when  the  blood  so  ruthlessly  shed  here  by  her  seemed  to  demand 
the  utter  annihilation  of  the  fabric  where  the  cruel  deed  was  consummated. 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots  took  refuge  in  England  after  the  battle  of  Langside  under 
the  special  promise  of  assistance  sent  her  by  Elizabeth  with  a  token  ring.  Sailing 
round  from  Dumbarton  in  an  open  boat,  she  landed  at  Workington,  on  the  coast  of 
Cumberland,  on  May  16,  1568,  and  was  at  once  pounced  on  and  incarcerated,  first 
at  Carlisle  and  Bolton  Castles,  in  the  north,  and  afterwards  at  Tutbury  and  other 
fortresses  in  the  centre  of  the  kingdom,  until  her  imprisonment  was  ended  by 
the  axe  of  P'otheringhay,  on  February  8,  1587,  a  dreary  durance  of  i8i  years, 
during  which  process  the  beautiful  young  queen  of  twentv-six  summers  became 
a  prematurely  old,  white-haiied  woman   of  forty-four.     We  are  concerned,  liow- 


NORTHAMPTON-SHIRK 


3^^ 


ever,  here  only  with  th;it  wliicli  occurred  ;it  KotlRTiiij^h.iy,  whither  the  d(jomcd 
queen  was  brouj^ht  on  September  25,  1586,  irum  Chartley,  liy  Sir  Wilhain 
Kitzwilliam,  of  Milton,  the  governor  of  the  castle,  who  lodj^ed  her  ni  the  keep. 
No  time  was  lost,  for  on  October  11,  the  Queen's  trial  was  held  by  the  com- 
missioners sent  from  London,  with  Burleij,'li  at  their  head,  to  trv  Mar)'  for 
complicity  in  the  Babington  conspiracy. 

In  the  Ellis  Letters  is  preserved  a  plan  of  the  great  banqueting  hall,  xs  it  was 
ordered  by  Burleigh  to  be-  arranged  for  the  function.     It  was  a  large  place,  69  feet 


PLAN 

OF   ARRANGEMENT   IN    THE   GREAT    HALL   <)1 

FOTHEKINGHAY   CASTLE    FOR   THE  TKLAL 

OF     .MARY    QUEEN     OF     SCOTS 

ORIC.   IN  LORD  DLRCHLEV'S  HAND 

1586                                                li 

"  The  upper  end  of  the  Gret  Chambre  at 

Fordynghay  Cast. 

"  The  Clolh  of  St.iic 

wh  a  chayr  for               ^                 ^ 

the  (J.  of  England          '-    •"            -, 

n   >             S 

rm  fo 

form 
rned 

"A 

"'3 
"A 

0"     ■<       0'                                                                 n-S'               - 

-1        u        -t                                                                         CO."? 

OJ 

3  Bare 

r  the 
unsell 

m  for 
.rds  vc 
m  for 

Sff  Ellis- 

P 

a 

-  j:  i.                          B 

letters. 

(A 

M    «      = 

I  St  Series, 

II 

s  f  i' 

vol.  ii.. 

s 

-   a 

frontispiece. 

"» 

■ '  A  chayr  for  the 
Q  of  Scots 

„        "A  rayle  as  in  the  Parli- 

n  a>         ment  Chamber 

3-S. 

n   ■ 

II   if                 "The  nether  pan  for  all  persons 

£  2              not    being  in  Commission  nor  of 

f  ^             the  Q  lerned  Counsell." 

7  yards  =  ai  foot 

■  •  There  i 

s  .-inolher  Chambre  for  the  L.ords  to  d>-ne  in,  the  length  is  xiiij  yerdrs. 

the  bri-dclh  vij  yerde«,  and  the  deppelh  ii)  ycrdes  dim." 

long  and  21  feet  wide  in  the  centre,  with  two  side  aisles,  as  at  Oakham,  divided  bv 
columns  and  arches.  At  the  upper  end  was  laid  a  cloth  of  state  with  "a  chavT  for 
the  Oiaen  of  England"  (who  m.ty  h.ive  In-en  represented  by  a  roix-),  with  four 
benches  right  and  left  for  fourteen  earls,  tlurteen  barons,  four  justices,  and  the 
"  lerned  counsell."     This  occupied  45  feet  of  the  length,  at  which  distance  was 


324  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

placed  a  rail  or  bar,  in  front  of  which  was  "a  chayr  for  the  Queen  of  Scots,"  while 
behind  the  bar  were  the  lookers  on.     Hitlier,  racked  with  rheumatism,  the  effect 
of  long  confinement  in  damp,  cold  castles,  came  the  poor  Queen,  and  made  her 
dignified  reply  to  the  accusations,  which  were  supported  only  by  alleged  copies  of 
letters.     For  two  davs  she  bravely  withstood  alone  her  thirty-six  adversaries,  and 
on  being  refused  by  Burleigh   the  services  of  an  advocate,  or  even  another  day 
to  prepare  her  defence,  she  arose  in  scorn  and  left  the  hall,  demanding  to  be  heard 
in  full  Parliament  in  presence  of  the  Queen  of  England.     The  sentence  of  this 
predetermined  and  mock  trial  was  given   in  the  Star  Chamber  in  London,  but  it 
was  January  31  before  Elizabeth  signed,   at  Greenwich,  the  death  warrant,  for  she 
awaited  the  support  of  a  new  and  subsei-vient  Parliament.     On  PY-bruary  7,  arrived 
George  Talbot,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  and   Henry  Grey,   Earl  of  Kent,  and  com- 
municated to  the  forlorn  lady  the  fact  that  her  execution  was  to  take  place  the 
next  day.     Marv   received  their   news   very   bravely,  and,  the  lords  having   left, 
ordered  her  supper,  "at  time   whereof  she  drank  to  her  servants  and  comforted 
them  because  she  saw  them  much  troubled  for  her."     Then  she  perused  her  will, 
and  at  her  usual  hour  went  to  bed,  but  she  seems  to  have  added  a  codicil  to  the 
will  at  two  A.M.,  and  the  rest  of  the  night  was  spent  in  rest  and  in  prayer.     On  the 
fatal  morning  the  Queen  first  read  her  will  to  her  servants,  showing  them  their 
legacies.     "Then  did  she  apparel  herself  after  this  manner — in  borrowed  hair,  a 
bourn,  having  on  her  head  a  dressing  of  lawn  edged  with  bone-lace,  and  above  that 
a  vail  of  same,  bowed  out  with  wier,  and  her  cuffs  suitable ;  about  her  neck  a 
pomander  chain,  and  an  Agnus  Dei  hanging  at  a  black  ribband,  a  crucifix  in  her 
hand,  a  pair  of  beads  at  her  girdle  with  golden  cross  at  the  end.     Her  uppermost 
gown  was  of  black  satin,  printed,  training  upon  the  ground,  with  long  hanging 
sleeves  trimmed  with  akorn  buttons  of  jet  and  pearl,  the  sleeves  over  her  arm 
being  cut,  to  give  sight  to  a  pair   of  purple  velvet  underneath  ;  her  kirtle  as  her 
gown  was  of  black  printed  satin,  her  boddice  of  crimson  satin  unlaced  in  the  back, 
the  skirt  being  of  crimson  velvet  :  her  stockings  of  worsted,  watchet,  clocked  and 
edged  at  top  with   silver,  and  next  her  legg  a  payer  of  Jarsey  hose  whit  ;  her 
shoes  of  Spanish  leather  with   the  rough  side  outward.     Thus  attired  she  came 
forth  of  her  chamber  to  the  commissioners,  who  were  ready  in  the  passage  to 
receive  her,  and  accompany  her,   making  as  yet  no  show  of  sadness  until  Sir 
Andrew  Melville,  the  master  of  her  household,  presented  himself  on  his  knees, 
bewailing   not  only  hers  but  also  his   own   misfortune  that  he  was  to  be  a  sad 
reporter  to  Scotland  of  her  death  ;  then  with  some  flux  of  tears  she  comforted 
him,  that  he  should  shortly  see  the  troubles  of   Marie  Stuart  have  an  end."     On 
asking  for  the  presence  of  her  servants,  this  was  at  first  refused  but  afterwards 
granted  to  six  of  them.     "  After  that  she  proceeded  towards  the  great  hall  in  the 
castle,  Melville  bearing  up  her  train  ;  the  scaffold  was  at  the  upper  end  of  the  hall 
2  foot  high  and  12  foot  broad,  with  railes  round  about,  hanged  with  black,  and 
she  seemed  to  mount  it  with  as  much  willingness  as  ease,  and  took  her  seat,  the 


NORTHAMPTOXSHIRK  325 

Earls  of  Shrewsbury  and  Kent  slandinj^  (jn  lic-r  rij^lit  li.md,  Mr.  Andrews,  the 
sheriff,  on  her  left,  and  the  two  e.\eciiti(jners  opposite  Ixfore  her."  Then  there 
was  the  reading  of  the  commission  and  tlie  warrant,  to  whicli  .Mary  paid  no 
attention,  followed  by  a  villanoiis  speech  by  Kent,  and  a  like  exhortation  to  her  by 
Fletcher,  the  Dean  of  Feterboroiij^h,  aj^ainst  her  sins  and  her  religion,  and  a 
Puritanical  prayer  in  which  this  worthy  dean  added  what  insult  he  could,  but 
during  which  the  poor  Queen  was  fortunately  absorbed  in  her  own  last  devotions. 
This  ended,  tiic  two  executioners  and  her  two  women  began  tr)  disrolx*  her. 
"Whereat  she  said  with  a  smiling  countenance  that  she  was  never  served  by  such 
grooms  before  ;  nor  was  she  wont  to  put  off  her  cloaths  before  such  a  company. 
Her  women,  with  a  Corpus  Christi  cloth  wrapped  up  three-cornerwise,  covered  her 
head  and  face,  which  done  tliey  departed,  and  the  Queen  was  left  alone  to  close 
up  the  tragedy  of  her  life  by  her  own  self,  which  she  did  with  lier  wonted 
courage  and  devotion,  kneeling  down  upon  the  cushion,  and  saying  in  Latin,  '  In 
te,  Domine,  speravi,  ne  confundar  in  ;eternum.' "  Then  groping  for  the  blf)ck, 
wliicli  \\;is  a  small  low  one  and  entailed  a  perfectly  prone  attitude,  "she  Uiid 
herself  on  the  block  most  quietiv,  and  stretching  out  her  arms  and  legs  cried  out 
three  or  four  times,  '  In  manus  tuas,  Uomine,  <&c.,'  when  the  executioner  at  two 
stroakes"  (the  Hrst  blow  falling  clumsily  on  the  back  of  her  hea<l  and  wounding 
her),  "  separated  her  head  fiom  hei-  body,  saving  a  sinew,  which  a  third  stroke 
parted  also,  at  which  time  she  made  very  small  noyse,  and  stirred  not  anie  part  of 
herself;  her  lippes  stirred  up  and  down  almost  a  quarter-of-an-hour  after  her  head 
was  cut  off."  The  executioner  took  up  the  head  and  showed  it  to  the  assembly, 
and  the  Dean  cried  "So  perish  all  the  Queen's  enemies,"  to  which  Kent  s;iid 
"Amen."  "  Her  head  coming  out  of  her  dressing  appeared  very  gray,  as  if  she 
had  been  much  elder  than  she  was  ;  it  was  polled  very  short,  which  made  her  (;is 
hath  been  said)  to  wear  borrowed  haii .  The  executioner  that  went  about  to  pluck 
off  her  stockings,  found  her  little  dog  crept  under  her  coat,  which  being  put  from 
thence  went  and  laid  himself  down  betwixt  her  head  and  body,  and  being 
besmeared  with  her  blood  was  caused  to  be  washed,  as  were  other  things  whereon 
any  blood  was,  except  those  things  which  were  burned."  Miss  Strickland  tells  us 
that  the  little  Skye  terrier  refused  his  food  afterwards  and  soon  pined  himself 
to  death.  "The  executioners  were  dismissed  with  fees,  not  having  anything 
that  was  hers.  Her  body  with  the  head  was  conveyed  into  the  great  chamber 
by  the  sheriff,  where  it  was  by  the  chirugeons  embalmed  until  its  interment." 

During  the  last  three  months  of  her  life  at  Fotheringhay,  that  is,  after  the  trial 
and  sentence,  much  indignity  was  thrown  upon  the  Queen  of  Scots,  and  |u*tty 
annoyances  were  adopted  towards  her.  Sir  .Annas  Paulett,  her  keeper,  covered 
his  head  in  her  presence,  and  he  took  away  the  billiard  table  which  had  Ikcu 
supplied  for  her  use,  its  green  cloth  indeed  was  used  soon  after  to  shrou<l  her 
remains  ;  and  they  hung  her  room  and  her  bed  with  black.  There  were  2000 
soldiers  quartered  in  the  castle  and  about  it,  and  the  standing  order  to  tliem  w;is 


326  CASTLES    OF   ENGLAND 

to  slioot  the  Quec-n  in  case  of  any  attempted  rescue,  or  of  even  any  disturbance, 
or  of  anv  attempt  on  her  part  to  escape.  Ail  tliat  Elizabeth  craved  for  was  Mary's 
death,  and  it  is  recorded  in  history  that  she  was  enraged  with  Paulett  because  he 
declined  to  carrv  out  a  private  assassination,  to  which  his  Queen  pointed.  The 
Tudors  were  indeed  a  bloodthirsty  race,  both  men  and  women.  And  having 
thus  done  to  death  her  victim,  Elizabeth  wrote  a  week  after  to  King  James  VI. 
calling  his  mother's  execution  "that  miserable  accident,  which  (far  contrary  to 
my  meaninge)  hath  befalen."  As  the  whole  of  the  buildings  of  this  castle  have 
disappeared,  and  nothing  remains  to  mark  its  site  but  portions  of  its  moats  and 
the  original  earthen  mound,  it  was  said  that  this  destruction  had  been  caused  by 
King  James  in  vindication  of  his  mother,  but  that  he  did  not  take  this  condign 
vengeance  is  proved  by  the  survey  of  1625,  which  declared  the  place  to  be  even 
then  "  a  capital  house."  This  report  states  that  :  "  The  castle  is  very  strong,  built 
of  stone  and  with  a  double  moat.  The  river  Nene  on  the  S.  serves  for  the  outer 
moat,  and  the  mill  brook  on  the  E.  side,  between  the  little  park  and  the  castle 
yard,  serves  here  for  the  outer  moat.  (The  outer  moat  on  the  N.  was  75  feet 
wide.)  The  gate  and  forepart  of  the  house  fronts  N.,  and  as  soon  as  you  are  past 
the  drawbridge,  at  the  gate  there  is  a  pair  of  stairs,  leading  up  to  some  fair 
lodgings,  and  up  higher  to  the  wardrobe,  and  so  on  to  the  fetter-lock  on  the 
top  of  the  mound  at  the  N.W.  corner  of  the  castle,  which  is  built  round  of  8  or 
16  square,  with  chambers  lower  and  upper  ones  round  about  but  somewhat 
decaved When  vou  go  down  again  and  go  towards  the  hall,  which  is  won- 
derful spacious,  there  is  a  goodly  and  fair  coinl  within  the  midst  of  the  castle.  On 
the  left  hand  is  the  chapel,  goodly  lodgings,  the  great  dining-room,  and  a  large 
room  at  this  present  well  furnished  with  pictures.  Near  the  hall  is  the  buttery  and 
kitchen,  and  at  the  end  of  this  a  yard  convenient  for  wood  and  such  purposes, 
with  large  brewhouse,  and  bakehouses,  and  houses  convenient  for  ofHces."  This 
description  of  the  vanished  castle  is  all  we  now  have,  and  is  of  interest.  Soon 
after  this  survey,  however,  the  castle  seems  to  have  been  consigned  to  ruin. 
James  I.  granted  the  property  to  Charles  Lord  Mountjoy,  K.G.,  Earl  of  Devon, 
who  dying  s./.  Sir  Henry  Baker  was  certified  as  his  heir  on  the  female  side,  and 
his  eldest  son  Mountjoy  succeeded  to  Fotheringhay,  being  created  (4  Charles  I.), 
Earl  of  Newport.  He  died  while  in  garrison  at  Oxford  in  1645,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  Henry,  last  Lord  Newport.  Meantime,  his  father  had 
dismantled  the  castle,  and  alienated  the  manor  by  purchase  to  Sir  George  Savile, 
Bart.,  afterwards  Marquis  of  Halifax,  whose  son,  the  second  Marquis,  dying  s.p. 
1700,  the  extensive  lordship  was  sold,  since  when  it  has  passed  through  several 
hands  until  purchased  by  the  late  Lord  Overstone. 

Gough  (Camden's  "Britannia")  saj-s  that  at  the  dismantlement  of  the  castle.  Sir 
Robert  Bruce  Cotton,  the  great  antiquary,  who,  deriving  from  the  Bruce  family 
was  connected  by  blood  with  the  Stuarts,  purchased  the  old  banqueting  hall,  the 
scene  of  the  execution,  and  moving  the  materials,  rebuilt  the  whole  at  the  new 


NOirril  AMI'  rONSHIRK  327 

niaiisioii  he  was  eiectinj^  at  Conington  (i/.:.)  in  Hunts,  at  no  great  dist;incc  from 
p'otliLiinj^liay.  Here,  on  the  exterior  of  tliat  castle,  on  its  \.  and  \\\  fronts,  are 
eleven  of  the  ancient  columns  and  arches  which  divided  the  aisles  of  Fotheringhay 
Hall.  Conington  in  its  tuin  tell  into  ruin,  and  tliese  are  now  all  the  remains  of 
the  chamber  that  witnessed  the  judicial  murder  of  Mary  (Jueen  of  Scots.  Tlie 
entrance  porch  at  Conington  also,  with  two  line  pillars  at  the  side  of  the  entrance 
gates  on  the  Great  North  l^oad,  are  from  Kotheringhay ;  and  in  Conington 
church  is  preserved  a  grand  throne  chair,  whicli  is  said  to  liave  come  from  tlience 
also,  and  to  have  been  tiie  very  one  in  which  Mary  sat  ix-fore  slie  was  belieaded. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  Cotton  obtained  and  preserved  tiiis  relic  likewise. 

Much  of  the  castle  stone  was  bought  foi-  building  a  cha|H;l  at  Kineshade,  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  it>  last  lemains  were  carted  away  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  for  repairing  the  Xene  navigation.  In  the  year  1820,  in  digging  for  stones 
in  the  mound,  a  very  curious  relic  was  found  :  a  ring,  with  the  initials  H.  and 
M.  entwined  upon  it,  with  true  lovers"  knots,  the  Royal  .Arms  of  Sc(jtland,  and 
Henri  L.  Darniey,  being  no  less  than  the  Ixtrotlial  rnig  of  Darnley  and  Mary, 
dropped  perhaps,  as  Miss  Strickland  suggests,  in  the  sawdust  of  the  shambles.  To 
return  to  the  fabric,  it  is  related  by  Dr.  F"uller,  the  historian,  who  was  born  within 
ten  miles  of  Fotheringhay  in  1608,  that  visiting  the  castle  he  saw  written  on  one 
of  the  windows,  evidently  by  Mary  with  a  dianu)nd,  this  couplet  from  an  old 
ballad  : 

"From  tliL-  top  of  ;ili  my  trust. 
Mishap  hath  laid  me  in  the  dust." 


L  I  L  B  0  r  R  X  E   {non-existent) 

IS  on  the  \V.  of  the  county,  near  where  the  Watling  Street  crosses  the  lesser 
Avon,  and  enters  Warwick  and  I^icestershire,  and  where  the  Romans  iiad 
their  station  of  Tripontium.  Here  are  traces  of  their  encampments  on  each  side 
of  the  river.  I'pon  the  bank  of  the  .Avon,  which  is  quite  a  small  stream  here,  are 
traces  of  an  ancient  castle,  dating  from  the  reign  of  Stephen.  Bridge  says  that 
there  is  a  square  piece  of  ground  here,  which  appears  to  have  been  raised,  at  the 
S.K.  and  S.W.  corners  of  which  are  hillocks,  where,  perhaps,  stood  corner  tt)wers, 
and  a  bank  of  earth  rims  where  the  curtain  wall  would  have  been  ;  the  area  of  the 
whole  is  only  one-lifth  of  an  acre.  From  the  situation  it  is  possible  that  the  ground 
was  originally  occupied  by  Hrito-Roman  works.  To  the  N.W.  is  a  large  high 
mound,  upon  which,  accordmg  to  tradition,  there  stood  a  fort,  or  watch  tower, 
out  of  which  it  is  --aid  the  churches  of  Lilbourne  and  Clay  Cotoii  were  budt. 
(Morton.) 

Temp.  Stephen  the  lordship  was  held  by  tlerartl  de  Camvile,  who  had  his  chief 
residence  in  the  castle,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  the  founder  of  Condx.- 
Abbey  in  Warwickshire.     The  Camville  family,  failing  in  heirs  male  (temp.  John), 


328  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

their  lands  came  to  three  female  heirs  portioner,  sisters  to  the  last  Roger  de  Camvile, 
whose  husbands  were  certified  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  to  hold  these  lands  of 
Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester.  At  his  forfeiture  they  went  with  the  rest 
of  his  estates  to  Henry's  second  son,  Edmund  Crouchback,  and  after  him  to  his 
son  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  who  (9  Edward  II.)  was  superior  lord  of  Lilbourne 
and  its  members.  One  of  Roger  de  Camvile's  sisters  was  married  to  Thomas  de 
Astley,  and  (temp.  Edward  III.)  his  portion  of  Lilbourne  was  owned  by  Sir 
Thomas  Astle^',  and  these  lands  in  course  of  succession  came  to  his  descendant, 
Thomas  Grey,  Marquis  of  Dorset,  who  died  seised  of  the  manor  of  Lilbourne 
(22  Henry  VIII.).  In  Bridge's  time  the  possessor  was  Mr.  Hinde,  who  inherited 
the  manor  from  his  ancestors. 

The  walls  of  the  castle  have  quite  vanished.  There  is  another  mound,  half  a 
mile  W.  of  the  village,  with  traces  of  a  moat  round  it,  and  a  third  near  the 
Watling  Street,  S.  of  Dovebridge. 

NORTH  BO  ROUGH  {minor) 

ONCE  a  defensible  manor-house,  about  seven  miles  from  Peterborough,  at  a 
village  anciently  called  Norburgh.  There  is  not  much  recorded  of  it, 
except  that  it  was  originally  of  far  greater  extent,  a  considerable  part  of  it  having 
been  pulled  down  towards  the  end  of  the  last  century. 

In  the  third  year  of  Henry  III.,  one  Brian  de  la  Mare,  possessing  property  here, 
held  the  office  of  forester  in  the  Kesteven  district  of  Lincolnshire,  and  his 
descendant,  Geoffrey  de  la  Mare,  held  a  knight's  fee  in  Norburgh  (26  Edward  III.), 
and  married  the  daughter  of  Geoffrey  le  Scrope,  one  of  that  King's  judges.  He 
is  supposed  to  have  been  the  builder  of  this  so-called  castle  about  the  year  1350, 
or  some  time  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  the  de  la  Mares  were 
in  possession  of  it  still  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  when,  as  the  manor  formed 
part  of  the  endowment  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Pega  (Peakirk  is  the  adjoining 
parish),  the  estate  was  alienated  and  passed  to  the  Fitzwilliams.  There  were  two 
manors  in  Northborough,  one  of  which,  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  belonged  to  a  family 
named  Brown,  and  was  afterwards  bought  by  the  Claypooles.  John  Claypoole 
married  Elizabeth,  the  second  daughter  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  whose  wife 
(Elizabeth  Bourchier),  died  here.  There  was,  in  the  lost  parish  register,  the 
entry  :  "  Elizabeth,  the  relict  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  sometime  Protector  of 
England,  was  buried  Nov.  the  19th,  1665." 

The  first  Claypoole  known  here  was  named  James,  a  worthy  yeoman,  who,  in 
1571,  bought  lands  in  Northants,  and,  in  1572,  the  manor  of  Northborough,  for  tlui 
sum  of  ;^5oo.  In  1588  he  obtained  a  grant  of  arms,  sculptured  thrice  on  his 
tomb.  His  son,  John,  who  succeeded,  was  knighted  by  King  James,  and  the 
grandson,  John  Claypoole,  of  Northborough,  was  a  violent  Republican,  and  served 
in  the   Long  Parliament  as  member  for    Northants,   being    made    a  baronet    by 


NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 


329 


NORTHBOROUGII 


Cronnvcll.  It  was  his  son  who  was  marned  to  CioiinveH's  favourite  daiij^liter  in 
1645  ;  she  was  an  ardent  Royalist,  who,  lu-inj^  seized  with  a  fatal  and  painful  illness, 
is  said  tu  have  unsparingly  upbraided  hei-  lather  for  his  actions.  She  died  at 
Hampton  Court  in  1658,  and  was  buried  in  Henry  VI  I.  s  Chapel  at  Westminster, 
where  her  grave  was  found  in  1725.  Her  husband  became  Master  of  the  Horse 
to  Oliver  and  to  Richard  Cromwell,  living  chielly  at  this,  iiis  seat,  where  it  is  said 
that  the  Protector  sometimes  spent  Christmas.  Hither,  as  we  have  seen,  his 
widow  retired,  and  here  she  died.  John  Claypoole,  in  later  vears,  becoming 
involved  in  debt,  resigned  the  estate  to  his 
eldest  son,  and  lived  in  London,  where 
he  tiled  in  16XX.     (Xoble.) 

The  only  portions  remaining  of  the 
original  building  are  the  gatehouse  and 
hall,  standing  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
court,  and  some  of  the  masonry  adjoining 
the  hall.  In  its  compl'^te  state  it  probably 
consisted  of  a  quadrangle  surrounded  by 
a  moat,  which,  later,  may  still  be  traced. 
The  gatehouse  has  a  line  moulded  arch 
on  botli  sides,  with  a  once  vaulted  and 
groined  passage  between,  and  on  the  left 
was  a  small  stair  leading  to  a  guardroom 

over.  As  in  the  case  of  its  elder  neighbour,  at  Woodcrolt,  there  is  no  portcullis. 
P'acing  the  entrance,  at  a  distance  of  50  feet,  is  the  hall,  36  feet  long  by  26,  lighted 
by  square  transomed  windows  on  each  side  :  at  one  end  was  the  screen  and  a 
passage  through,  having  doors  at  each  end  anci  a  minstrel's  gallery  above,  and 
in  this  passage  three  doors  gave  communication  with  the  kitchens,  butteries,  &c. 
The  porch  seems  of  the  date  of  Henry  VII.,  and  connected  with  the  building  are 
erections  for  stables  and  offices,  of  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  during  whose  reign  the 
old  building  appears  to  have  been  in  great  part  destroyed,  and  the  hall  divided 
into  floors,  with  dormers  to  light  the  upper  rooms,  perhaps  for  liie  accommo- 
dation of  iIk  Claypooles  and  Cromwells. 

As  to  marks  of  fortification  or  defence,  these,  besides  the  moat,  are  only  now 
to  be  seen  in  the  loopholes,  but  the  name  of  castle  has  been  borne  since  earliest 
times.  Externally,  the  details  of  the  masonry  in  the  hall  are  extremely  beautiful  ; 
the  west  gable  is  enriched  and  terminated  with  .1  chimney  of  exquisite  design  and 
execution. 

in  the  S.  aisle,  uv  transept,  of  the  adjoining  church,  elected  about  the  same  iK-rioil, 
was  the  burial-place  of  the  family  of  the  founder,  where  are  two  arclied  recesses 
for  tombs  that  are  no  longer  to  be  seen.  Curiously,  in  the  churchyarti  of  tiie 
neighbouring  parish  of  Glinton,  are  two  mutil.ited  stone  ertigies  of  .1  knight  .md  .1 
lady  ;  the  former  wearing,  besides  his  armour,  a  IniLjle  horn  .it  his  side,  tin  b.idge 
vol..  I.  ■   1 


330  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

of  a  forester,  witli  marks  wliich  connect  him  with  the  De  la  Mares,  the  foresters 
of  Kesteven  ;  and  so  they  are  supposed  to  represent  Geoffrey  de  la  Mare  and  his 
wife,  the  dauj^iiter  of  the  last  de  la  Scrope  of  his  race,  the  builders  of  the  manor- 
liouse  and  church  of  Northhorough.     (Parker.) 

To  explain  the  removal  of  these  effigies  :  it  is  possible  that,  after  the  Restoration, 
the  zeal  of  the  natives,  who  connected  them  with  the  dwelling  of  the  Puritan 
Claypooles  and  with  the  Cromwells,  led  them  to  expel  the  figures,  which  were  not 
even  received  into  the  new  church,  but  left  where  they  now  lie.  The  body  of 
Cromwell  himself  is  said  to  have  been  re-buried  at  Northborough  after  its 
inhuman  treatment  at  the  Restoration.  There  is  a  statement  by  a  servant  that  she 
saw  the  body  carried  by  horsemen  through  Huntingdon,  where  she  had  expected 
they  would  remain  with  it,  and  no  likelier  place  of  interment  can  be  conceived 
than  the  home  of  his  wife  and  favourite  daughter. 

NORTHAMPTON   (non-cxisteut) 

THIS  castle  stood  a  little  outside  the  Westgate,  on  very  high  ground  over- 
looking the  country  round,  with  the  river  Nene,  coming  from  Nasebv, 
flowing  under  its  W.  front,  where  the  stream  afforded  an  efficient  defence,  the 
other  sides  being  protected  by  deep  ditches.  The  few  remains  which  existed 
fifteen  years  ago  were  to  be  found  at  the  foot  of  Gold  Street  and  close  to  the 
Castle  station. 

The  foundation  of  this  fortress  is  connected  with  the  historv  of  a  bad  Xorman 
woman,  the  Countess  Judith,  daughter  of  the  Conqueror's  half-sister  Adeliza, 
whom  William  had  married  to  the  Saxon  Earl  Waltheof,  son  of  Earl  Siward,  and 
the  chief  man  among  the  very  few  English  whom  he  suffered  to  remain  in 
authority  in  the  hind.  Perhaps  he  wished  in  this  way  to  promote  a  union  of  the 
two  nations  ;  but  his  niece  appears  to  have  hated  her  English  husband,  and  when 
Waltheof,  who  was  Earl  of  Northumberland,  Northamptonshire  and  Huntingdon, 
promised  his  support  to  a  conspiracy  of  some  of  the  Norman  nobles  against 
William's  imperious  dealings,  and  opened  his  mind  to  his  wife  unsuspectingly, 
the  wretched  woman,  who  had  transferred  her  affections  to  some  one  else,  took 
this  opportunity  of  ruining  her  husband.  She  conveyed  intelligence  of  the  con- 
spiracy to  the  King,  and  aggravated  every  circumstance  which  would  tend  to 
incense  him  against  Waltheof  (Hume),  who  was  tried  and  condemned,  and,  to  the 
great  grief  of  the  English,  was  beheaded  on  St.  Giles'  Hill  at  Winchester.  Then 
William,  probably  despising  his  niece,  ordered  her  to  marry  Simon  de  St.  Liz,  one 
of  his  Norman  adventurers,  but  this  Judith  refused  to  do,  on  account  of  his  bodily 
deformity,  whereon  the  King  seized  the  whole  of  her  propertv,  including  sixteen 
houses  in  Northampton,  and  gave  it  to  St.  Liz,  who  is  said  thereupon  to  have  built 
this  castle. 

He  also  founded,  within  the  town  walls,  the  Pnory  of  St.  Andrews  for  Cluniac 


NOKTIIAMPTONSIIIRF 


33 « 


monks,  and  then  went  to  tlie  Crusades  ;  w  liile  on  his  way  a  second  time  to  the 
Holy  Land  he  died  in  P'laiice.  There  is  another  acconnt  by  wliieh  the  possession 
of  W'altlieof  s  estates  by  St.  Liz  is  acquired  by  his  marriaj^e  witli  the  daiij^liter  of 
that  (.ail  by  Jiulith  (sir  HrXTIXGUON). 

In  1106  Robert  "  Courthose,"  Duke  of  Normandy,  had  an  interview  here  with 
his  brother  Henry  L  to  settle  their  differences  ;  and  in  1 122-3  •'"-'  l^'"K  celebnited 
here  the  high   festival  of 

Easter   with   great    state  ^ 

A  meeting  of  the  prin- 
cipal nobles  was  held  at 
Northampton  in  1 130-31, 
when  all  present  swore  to 
support  the  Empress 
Maud  as  Queen,  in  place 
of  her  father,  against  the 
pretensions  of  her  cousin 
Stephen  of  Blois ;  but 
soon  after  this  the  castle 
of  Northampton  was 
taken  by  Stephen,  who 
held  a  council  there  in 
1  I38,and  another  in  1 144. 
In  1 164  Henry  11.,  being 
determined  to  crush 
Archbishop  Becket  for 
his  contumacy,  convened 
a  great  council  of  nobles 
and  churchmen  at  this 
castle  to  call  Becket  to 
account.  The  coimcil 
met  in  the  great  hall  on 
October  7,  wiien  the  arch- 
bishop was  found  guilty 
of  contempt  of  the  King's 

Court  and  heavily  hned.  Then  the  King  proceeded  to  demand  from  him 
immense  sums  of  money  for  jiretended  mal-administration,  the  cases  proceed- 
ing in  Court  for  three  davs,  and  Henrv  refusing  all  compromise  as  to  the 
amount  demanded.  Becket  became  indisposed,  and  was  imable  to  ap|x-ar  ftir 
several  days  ;  on  the  13th,  however,  he  proceeded  to  attend  at  the  council,  and 
rode  thither  in  his  ordinary  clothes,  and  not  in  pontificals,  as  is  siid ;  on 
reaching  tin-  castle  he  took  the  cross  from  the  Ixarer,  and  holding  it  aloft 
sought  the   King.      Henry,  on   learning  this,  fearing  soiiu-  iMicise  of   nligious 


NORTHAMITON 


332  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

aiifhoritv,  wltlidrcw  to  an  inner  apartment  upstairs,  and  tliere  held  his  Court 
privately,  causing  Becket  to  remain  in  the  hall.  Violent  scenes  took  place 
during  the  day  between  him  and  the  eails  sent  by  the  King  to  argue  with 
him,  ending  in  Becket  appealing  to  the  Pope  against  the  King ;  and  then, 
refusing  to  listen  to  the  sentence  of  imprisonment  pronounced  against  him,  the 
archbishop  retired  from  the  chamber,  and,  mounting  his  horse,  rode  out  of  the 
castle  gates  and  returned  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Andrew,  where  he  was  housed. 
That  night  he  gave  out  he  would  sleep  in  the  chapel  for  safety,  but  rising  in 
the  middle  of  the  night  he  rode  away,  and  passing  by  the  unguarded  N.  gate  of 
the  town,  escaped,  in  a  deluge  of  rain,  and  came  to  Lincoln,  and  thence  to  a  her- 
mitage in  the  fens,  where  he  waited  some  time  disguised  as  a  monk,  under  the  name 
of  "  brother  Christian."  Then,  travelling  by  night,  Becket  at  last  came  by  Eastry 
to  Sandwich,  where,  after  waiting  a  week,  he  was  rowed  across  the  Channel  by  two 
monks  in  an  open  boat  and  landed  safely,  November  3,  on  the  sands  of  Gravelines. 
These  Northampton  events  formed  the  last  occasion  that  King  and  prelate  ever 
met ;  for  when,  after  a  banishment  of  six  years,  Becket  returned,  Henry  was  in 
Normandv,  and  it  was  at  Bayeux  that,  in  one  of  his  uncontrollable  fits  of  rage, 
he  uttered  the  words  which  caused  the  archbishop's  immediate  murder  (sec 
Saltwood,  Kent). 

In  1 193  Coeur  de  Lion  came  to  Northampton  Castle  to  meet  William  the 
Lion,  King  of  Scotland,  in  order  to  adopt  some  arrangement  with  him  regard- 
ing his  claim  to  NorthiuBberland.  King  John  removed  the  exchequer  from 
London  to  this  fortress  in  1208,  and  visited  Northampton  fourteen  different 
times,  causing  the  castle  to  be  placed  in  an  efHcient  state  of  repair.  When  the 
Barons  rose  against  John  they  laid  siege  to  this  castle  for  fourteen  days,  but  not 
being  provided  with  a  battering  train  they  were  unable  to  make  any  impression 
on  the  fortress,  and  had  to  retire.  Upon  the  renewal  of  the  war  John  committed 
the  castle  of  Northampton  to  the  custody  of  his  staunch  and  reckless  supporter, 
Falk  de  Brent  (sec  BEDFORD),  who  entertained  him  here  at  Christmas  1215.  His 
son,  Henry  III.,  in  his  turn  falling  out  with  his  barons  concerning  the  Charter  of 
the  Forests,  a  council  met  at  Northampton,  at  which  this  important  measure  was 
confirmed  by  the  King.  In  1240  a  tournament  was  held  here  at  the  instigation  of 
Peter  of  Savoy,  the  Queen's  uncle,  who,  himself  a  foreigner,  had  the  bad  taste  to 
try  thereby  to  test  the  comparative  merits  of  foreign  against  English  knights. 
Henry,  however,  had  the  good  sense  to  suppress  the  scheme.  This  King's  first 
visit  to  the  castle  was  made  when,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  on  his  way  to 
crush  the  insubordination  of  Falk  de  Brent  in  his  castle  of  Bedford,  the  siege  of 
that  place  lasting  eight  weeks.  Another  visit  occurred  when,  on  April  5,  1264,  the 
aiMuy  led  by  Prince  Edward  besieged,  and,  with  the  treacherous  aid  of  the  priory 
monks  who  had  undermined  the  city  wall,  took  the  town  of  Northampton, 
capturing  the  whole  party  of  the  barons  who  had  assembled  under  Simon  de 
Montfort,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester.     With  the  King  there  were  present  on  his 


NORTlIAMl'TOXSniRF  333 

side,  liis  hiotlK-r  Ricliard,  Km;,'  ol  the  komaii^,  William  cic  Valence,  dc  Clifford, 
dc  Murtiincr,  and  the  great  Scottish  chiefs,  de  Hrus,  Coniyn,  and  John  de  Haliol. 
Two  days  after  tile  castle  was  surrendered.  After  Kveshani,  in  laWj,  a  Parliament 
was  held  at  Xorthampton,  when  the  forfeitures  of  lands  were  compounded  for. 
There  are  a  few  notices  of  the  castle  subsequently  to  this  ;  one  in  1268,  when,  in 
the  midst  of  internal  troubles,  Henry  convoked  a  j,'reat  assembly  to  meet  him  here, 
not  about  a  matter  for  the  {general  good,  but  in  order  to  afford  to  the  Papal  legate 
an  opportunity  of  preaching  a  new  crusade,  which  the  King  and  his  sons  proposed 
to  accompany.  The  inhabitants  of  Xorthampton  were  among  the  earliest  to  send 
representatives  to  Parliament,  and  a  legislative  assembly  held  in  the  hall  of  the 
castle  in  1328  was  of  great  national  signilicance.  Among  the  edicts  resolved  on 
were,  tiiat  armed  men  were  forbidden  to  appear  at  these  meetings,  and  in  order 
that  the  representatives  of  the  people  might  deliberate  without  fear  of  restraint, 
enactments  were  made  forbidding  the  appearance  of  the  military  at  an  election,  as 
being  a  menace  to  the  laws  and  constitution,  which  indeed  formed  the  very 
authority  made  use  of  in  1645  bv  the  Long  Parliament,  and  was  a  me;isurc 
established  by  the  .Act  of  8  George  11.  The  right  custody  of  the  Great  Se*al  was 
also  then  settled,  and  the  Magna  Charta  and  the  Charter  of  Forests  were  contirme<l 
under  the  first  "  Statute  of  Xorthampton."  Other  Parliaments  were  held  here  till 
the  time  111  Ricliaicl  1 1. 

A  survey  iieid  in  1323  had  shown  that,  in  1307,  great  injuries  had  Ix-en 
sustained  by  the  castle  when  Xichoias  de  Segrave  had  been  its  keeper  ;  the  great 
hall  and  two  of  the  chief  rooms  had  been  burnt,  together  with  the  chapel,  to  which 
buildings  Henry  111.  iiad,  seventy  years  before,  added  so  much,  and  the  rixmis  in 
the  "  Xew  Tower  '  and  si.\  turrets  on  the  walls  had  been  destroyed.  .Among  the 
dilapidations  then  reported,  are  ruined  walls,  a  crazy  garden  gate,  and  the  ruinous 
condition  of  the  barbican,  and  of  the  old  building  called  Falk's,  or  Faulk's  Tower, 
after  Falk  de  lirent,  of  John's  reign  (from  whose  name  came  also  Faulk's  Hall,  or 
Vau.xhall,  in  Lambeth),  but  which  had  been  built  temp.  "  Henry  the  Elder,"  or  II. 
The  estimated  cost  of  the  repairs  to  these  was  £t;()>,  (>>.  M.,  a  sum  etpial  to  ipiite 
£"8oooof  the  present  curreiKv.  The  next  survey,  in  1333,  siys  that  "  the  Great  Wall  " 
needed  much  repair,  and  that  the  park  was  decently  kept  "  in  vert  and  venison. ' 
After  this  time  the  castle  was  used  as  a  county  gaol,  and  courts  <»f  justice  were 
held  in  it  until  the  seventeenth  century.  In  1593  the  castle  was  "much  decayed," 
and,  in  1662,  bv  order  of  tin  k'ing  and  Privy  Council,  the  walls  of  the  town,  witl> 
the  gates  and  part  of  the  castle,  were  demolished,  the  castle  and  its  site  K-ing  sold 
to  one  Robert  Hasehig,  with  whose  family  the  projierty  continued  until  late  limes. 

The  area  covered  by  the  castle  enceinte  was  about  3.I  .icres,  the  entr.mce  Ix-ing 
on  the  X.,  hiving  a  barbican  with  a  triple  rampart  in  front,  in  Castle  I^me.  There 
were  an  outer  and  an  inner  ward,  and  at  the  X.F.  end  of  the  latter,  on  a  r.n-cl 
nioimd,  conical,  and  surrounded  by  a  separate  moat,  stood  the  keep.  On  the  S. 
side  of  this  ward  were,  until  lately,  the  remains  of  a  round  tower,  and  W.  of  it  ;i 


33+  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

postern  gate  witli  a  pointed  arch  and  Norman  mouldings,  giving  on  a  path  round 
the  ward  between  wall  and  moat.  A  wet  ditch,  supplied  from  the  river,  divided 
the  inner  from  the  outer  bailey,  which  latter  extended  S.  to  the  walls  facing  Black 
Lion  Hill,  and  these  were  defended  by  mural  flanking  towers  at  intervals,  all 
probablv  the  work  of  Henry  III.  Part  of  the  circular  tower  on  the  S.  side  was 
once  used  as  a  prison,  and  long  kept  its  old  name  of  the  Castle  Ring.  An  ancient 
tower  on  the  E.  and  another  on  the  W.  were  pulled  down  early  in  this  century. 

The  mound,  mentioned  by  Pennant  in  1782,  was  partially  removed  in  1826, 
when  Saxon  relics  were  found,  showing  it  to  have  been  erected  towards  the  end  of 
the  Saxon  era,  perhaps  by  Ethelffed,  the  Lady  of  Mercia,  or  by  her  brother, 
Edward,  after  he  had  received  the  submission  of  Bedford,  Huntingdon,  and 
Northampton.  In  the  Gciitlciiian's  Magnziiic  for  October  1800,  are  given  plans 
and  measurements  of  the  work  as  then  standing.  The  ditch,  18  feet  wide,  covered 
an  inner  rampart  on  the  E.  30  feet  wide.  The  castle  ditch  is  shown  perfect  round 
the  enclosure,  as  is  the  barbican,  or  tctc-du-pout,  on  the  N. 

In  1863  Mr.  Law  (whose  paper  is  given  in  the  "Reports"  of  the  Associated 
Architectural  Societies  for  1879)  discovered  the  remains  of  a  groined  Norman 
chamber  and  a  central  column  of  it,  and  in  1879,  during  the  excavations  by  the 
railway  companv,  much  good  masonry  was  unearthed. 

The  high  ground  of  the  castle  site,  elevated  some  30  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  often-flooded  meadows  below,  seems  to  have  been  coveted  for  the  station 
of  the  railway,  to  which  all  other  considerations  gave  way,  and  the  company 
has  accordingly  annihilated  all  traces  of  this  most  interesting  fortress.  Even  the 
democratic  spirit  of  Northampton  might,  one  would  think,  have  hesitated  to  sweep 
away  the  seat  of  our  early  legislative  assemblies,  with  such  memories  of  freedom 
attached  to  it,  even  though  it  cared  not  for  the  associations  of  history,  of 
Becket  or  Henrv  11.* 


ROCKINGHAM  {chief) 

IN  the  N.  of  the  county,  bordering  on  Leicester  and  Rutland,  is  the  elevated 
tract  of  land  bounded  N.W.  by  the  Welland  river,  and  S.E.  by  the  Nene, 
called  Rockingham  Forest,  and  on  its  N.  side,  toward  the  former  river,  on  a  rock  or 
spur  of  the  hill,  is  this  castle,  protected  on  both  sides  by  steep  ravines,  a  situation 
of  strength  that,  in  very  early  days,  recommended  it  for  a  stronghold  ;  hence  we 
find  in  Saxon  times  a  chief  named  Bovi  had  his  dwelling  here  on  a  loftv  mound, 


*  The  Rev.  E.  A.  Tom,  Rector  of  St.  Peter's,  Northampton,  writes,  that  twenty  years  ago 
considerable  portions  of  the  castle  wall  were  standing  on  the  S.,  with  a  lofty  bastion,  and 
al)out  150  yards  of  the  old  wall  on  the  W.  side,  from  10  to  20  feet  high,  including  the  Norman 
postern,  which  was  carefully  removed  by  the  railway  company,  and  rebuilt  in  their  S.  wall, 
in  forming  which  the  old  materials  were  used  from  the  walls.  The  company  also  completed 
the  levelling  of  the  castle  mound  fifteen  vears  ago. 


NO  RT 11 A  M  PTON S H  1  R  I- 


335 


which,  ;is  elsewhere,  caused  it  to  be  chosen  by  tlie  Conqueror  lor  the  site  of  a  Norman 
sIkII  keep.  Tliis  mound  is  now  lOO  feet  in  diameter  at  top,  and  is  30  feet  ! 
liaving  a  broad  and  deep  ditch  round  its  base  ;  it  stands  at  tlie  S.  of  a  plot  <j1  :...: 
land  on  which  the  main  castle  buildin^^s,  with  their  wards,  were  afterwards  ranjjed  ; 
and  from  llic  mound  westward  extended  a  line  of  wall,  (jf  which  the  j«reater  part 
remains  along  the  edge  of  the  ditch  and  ravine  northward,  and  round  on  the  E., 


'•'-'yj'T^^-Afi'ff- 


p-i 


-P? 


'  I ■ 1  »/ 


ROCKINGHAM 


enclosing  the  buildings  and  courtyards.  This  curtain  wall  is  well  buttressed  and 
has  circular  mural  lowers  at  the  angles,  with  the  great  entrance  gatehouse  on  its 
E.  face. 

As  this  forest  was  one  of  the  largest  in  the  kingdom,  extending  Ironi 
Xorthampton  in  the  S.W.,  to  Stamford  in  the  N.K.,  and  was  a  Hoy.d  demesne,  it 
is  possible  that  in  visiting  the  place  for  the  purposes  of  sport  Willi.im  I.  ordered 
the  fortress  to  be  erected  as  a  strong  hunting  lodge  (like  Knepp,  in  Sussex,  and 
others),  and  its  custodians  were  usually  seneschals  of  the  forest.  In  the  reign  «if 
Edward  1.  the  forest  was  eight  miles  wide,  and  before  lA-lands  time  was  s.iid  to 
contain  red  deer.  Other  buildings  must  have  been  made  at  the  siime  time  .us  the 
keep,  for  in  1095  the  Red  King  summoned  a  great  council  of  prelali-s  ill  ihc 
chapel  of  Rockingham  to  settle  a  grave  dispute  Ixtween  himself  and  Archbishop 
Anselm  regarding  allegiance  to  the  Pope.  Richard  I.  was  here  in  1 1<)4  together 
with   King  William  the  Lion,  and   John  c.une  no  less  th.m  louiteen  tiUK>>  b.lu.iii 


336  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

1204  and  1 216,  in  liis  most  troublous  days,  for  the  purposes  of  sport  and  relaxation. 
Hunting  was  a  necessity  in  those  times,  when  markets  were  few,  and  supplies  hard 
to  get,  in  order  to  feed  the  crowd  of  people  who  hung  upon  the  Court.  Some 
of  this  King's  deeds  are  dated  at  Rockingham,  and  each  of  the  four  succeeding 
Sovereigns  paid  several  visits  here.  Wine  used  to  be  imported  from  France  at 
Southampton  and  Porchester,  and  sent  to  the  various  castles  visited  by  the  Court. 
Ctt'ur  de  Lion  gave  "  la  Ville  de  Rockingham  "  to  his  Queen  Berengaria,  but  on 
his  death  his  brother  seized  the  property  and  settled  it  on  his  own  wife,  Isabella. 
In  1 2 17  William  de  Fortibus,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  was  appointed  constable,  but 
rebelled  soon  after,  and  when,  two  years  later,  the  Queen  Mother,  Isabella,  having 
married  her  original  tjninr,  the  Count  de  la  Marche,  petitioned  for  the  restitution 
of  this  castle,  Albemarle  refused  to  cede  it.  Then  the  henchman  of  King  John, 
Falk  de  Brent,  or  Breaute  {see  Bedford),  was  set  on  him,  and  laid  siege  to 
Rockingham  with  rams  and  catapults  and  all  the  engines  of  war  then  in  use,  the 
young  King  being  present.  The  castle  stood  out,  but  was  taken  by  surprise  by 
de  Brent,  when  only  three  loaves  were  found  left  in  the  place.  Considering  the 
characters  of  de  Brent  and  Albemarle,  and  their  subsequent  history,  it  seems  likely 
that  the  surrender  of  the  castle  was  the  result  of  an  arrangement  between  these 
two  worthies. 

Large  repairs  were  then  necessary,  and  when  they  had  been  carried  out,  in 
1226,  the  King  paid  a  visit  here.  Many  different  constables  were  appointed  to 
Rockingham  during  his  disturbed  reign. 

Edward  I.  came  hither  in  1275  and  caused  extensive  alterations  and  additions 
to  be  undertaken,  among  them  being  a  new  hall,  the  walls  of  which  are  still 
standing,  and  from  the  sides  of  the  present  hall,  the  vestibule,  and  the  dining- 
room.  It  is  calculated  that  at  this  period  a  sum  equal  to  ;^20,ooo  of  our  money 
was  expended  on  the  works. 

Several  prisoners  taken  at  Dunbar,  in  1294,  were  confined  here. 

Rockingham  was  settled  on  Isabella  of  France,  the  bride  of  Edward  II.,  who 
appears  to  have  gone  there  on  three  occasions,  the  last  time  in  1323. 

Edward  III.  used  the  castle  as  a  resting  stage  when  on  his  expeditions  into 
Scotland,  and  gave  it  to  his  Queen  Philippa  in  dower  ;  but  at  that  time  the 
buildings  were  in  a  ruinous  state.  As  the  means  of  living  became  easier  the  value 
and  importance  of  forests  and  parks  decreased,  lands  formerly  afforested  were 
cultivated,  and  their  residences  neglected.     (Clark,  Hartshoi'ne.) 

In  1454  Henry  VI.  settled  the  castle  and  lordship,  with  its  forest,  upon  his 
Queen,  ]\Iargaret,  and  Edward  IV.  did  the  same  in  favour  of  his  wife,  Elizabeth 
Woodville,  for  her  life.  Henry  VII.  made  the  same  settlement,  in  1498,  on  his 
Queen,  the  White  Rose  of  York. 

Then,  after  more  than  400  years  of  Royal  possession,  came  a  change.  At 
Lyddington,  on  the  S.  march  of  Rutland,  is  an  interesting  village,  once  the 
ancient    manor-place    of    the    Bishops    of    Lincoln  ;    one    Edward    Watson,    a 


"idrelaj 


-ourt, 


tard 
Some 


■1  Fniiici 


'eat 


^ma,l 


*.  Isabella, 


'■■'Ma.liavir 


■'T  the 


■estitulion 


I  "<i  laid  siege  to 

■11  in  use,  tie 

■saiprisebv 

^'asidemgllie 

'■^■■^twiiisliblv 


w.  carried  out,  in 
wrt  appointed  lo 


lilt,  and  t 
MiMOOtourmoiKv 


here. 

)t  Edimd  II,  ivki 

iL-  espeditions  uito 
It  at  tt 


tk 


m  easier  me  vault 
Iv  afforested  we 


Is  I'orest,  iipoi 
hisrie,  Eliza 

nt>i| 


I,  onto 


ne  a  cnangc  •■ 
(iliage,  once  ll 
\ui  Watson, 


-,  tile 


\ere  api 


<•. 


4 


I*- 


'.7 


V 


< 


o 

X 


NORTIIAMPTOXSHIRE  339 

Westminster,  the  cross  erected  by  Edward  beiii^  destroyed  in  the  Civil  Wars.  The 
town  of  Stamford  was  a  stronj,'  one  and  walled  even  in  Saxon  time-.,  ior  it  is 
called  Arx  by  Florence  of  Worcester.  Leland,  writing  towards  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  says  there  were  seven  chief  towers  on  tlie  walls,  and  two  ptj^tern 
gates,  and  alsf)  a  strong  citadel.  The  original  fortress,  if  built  by  Edmund,  or  even 
by  Edward  the  Elder,  was  early  captured  by  the  Danes,  as  the  Saxon  Chronicle, 
speaking  of  it  as  taken  from  them  in  941,  observes  that  it  had  been  h^ng  m  their 
possession.  Afterwards  they  recovered  it,  and  held  it  till  the  drunken  death  of 
their  last  King,  Harthacanute,  in  1041.  Stamford  had  then  onlv  one  of  the 
ordinary  strongholds  of  timber,  in  all  probability  erected  with  stockades  and 
palisading  on  the  earthen  mound  on  each  bank  of  the  river  ;  and  during  the  reign 
of  Stephen,  the  fort  on  the  Lincolnshire  side  was  besieged  by  I'rince  Henr>'  of 
Anjou,  afterwards  Henry  II.,  when  Duke  of  N'ormandv,  who  w;is  twice  repulsed 
from  it.  In  1152  he  came  there  for  the  third  time  with  a  well-disciplined  force, 
and  occupied  the  town,  but  the  fortress  held  out  until  news  arrived  that  King 
Stephen,  then  at  Ipswich,  could  give  no  assistance  to  the  garrison,  when  it  was 
given  up.  It  was  then  granted  to  Richard  Humez,  who  was  sheriff  of  Rutland 
in  1164-80,  and  who  founded  the  Xorman  castle,  which  King  John  gave,  with 
the  town,  in  1206,  to  William,  Earl  de  Warrenne,  whose  familv  possessed  them 
till  1303,  wiieii  John,  Earl  Warren,  surrendered  all  to  Edward  I.,  receiving 
them  back  for  his  lifetime.  In  1215,  Eustace  de  Vesci  and  Robert  Fit/Walter 
assembled  all  the  great  barons  with  their  forces  at  Stamford,  in  all  4000  knights, 
besides  yeomen,  foot  soldiers,  and  followers,  the  common  people  flocking  to  them 
from  every  quarter  in  their  detestation  of  the  King.  The  armv  marched  by  Bury 
St.  Edmunds  to  Lundon,  and  thence,  in  augmented  numbers,  to  Runimede, 
where,  on  June  15,  they  met  John,  and  obtained  his  signature  to  the  great 
Charter  and  to  the  Charter  of  the  Forests,  (Mat.  Paris.)  After  that  date  the  castle 
aiul  lordship  had  many  owners,  either  from  forfeitures  or  from  failure  of  male 
i.ssue,  until  Eii/abeth  bestowed  the  manor  on  William  Cecil,  I^)rd  Burleigh,  after 
whom,  by  the  marriage  of  his  granddaughter  Anne,  a  co-heiress,  with  Willi.im, 
Earl  of  Exeter,  it  came  to  Henry  I.,  Earl  of  Stamford,  in  whose  family  it  long 
remained,  until  repurchased  by  the  Cecils.  The  castle  was  demolished  in  the 
reign  of  Richard  III.,  and  the  materials  given  to  repair  the  Carmelite  Friar>\ 

Although  not  connected  with  the  history  of  the  castle,  it  is  of  interest  to  record 
that,  on  May  3,  1646,  Charles  1.  came  to  Stamford  from  Oxford,  <lisguised  as  a 
servant,  and  was  lodged  in  the  house  of  Alderman  Wolph.on  Barnhill,  afterwards 
Dr.  Stukeiey's  house.  On  the  4th,  at  midnight,  he  set  out  along  the  ro.id  le.iding 
towards  Southwell,  attended  by  the  faithful  .Mr.  .Ashburnham,  and  liis  loyal 
follower  and  chaplain,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hudson,  who  was  afterw-irds  brutally  killed  at 
Wt)odcroft  House  (</.!•.  NoKTH.ANTS).  Charles  then  gave  himself  up  to  the  Scots 
army  («<■  Nkwauk),  and  actually  slept  his  l.isl  night  as  a  free  man,  in  Stamford. 
Local  tradition  runs  that  he  often,  when  there,  cIiiuIhcI  up  uixin  the  wall,  where 


340  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Dr.  Stiikeley  built  his  memorial  arch  of  Culloden,  to  watch  if  his  enemies  were  in 
pursuit  or  in  sight.  (Walcott.)  Only  a  few  fragments  remain  of  the  town  walls  and 
of  the  castle  of  the  Warrens.  Humez'  keep  stood  on  the  artificial  mound  N.W. 
of  the  town,  and  near  this  are  some  small  remains  of  the  Norman  stoiie  wall,  and 
of  a  doorway.  The  castle  enclosure  was  an  irregular  figure,  approaching  a  square, 
the  S.  side  of  which  ran  close  to  the  leaf  of  the  King's  mill,  a  branch  taken  off  the 
river  a  short  distance  to  southward,  and  here,  in  Bath  Row,  are  the  remains  of  an 
Earlv  English  postern  gateway  ;  this,  with  three  good  arches  of  thirteenth-century 
work,  supported  on  combined  shafts  on  the  castle  hill,  S.E.  of  the  enclosure,  is 
all  that  is  left,  besides  the  masonry,  with  an  Edwardian  gateway  at  the  top  of  the 
ascent  in  King's  Mill  Lane  ;  we  have  no  way  of  judging  what  the  castle  was  before 
its  destruction.  There  is  nothing  whatever  on  the  S.,  or  Northamptonshire  side. 
The  mound  erected  here  by  Edward  the  Elder  was  destroyed  in  1152.  Its  site, 
now  occupied  by  the  building  of  the  Midland  Railway  Station,  was  chosen  by 
Abbot  Waterville  for  founding  St.  Michael's  Priory.  (Walcott's  "  Memorials  of 
Stamford.") 

THORPE  WATERVILLE  {minor) 

AHAAtLET  in  the  parish  of  Abchiuch,  on  the  \V.  of  the  county,  and  close 
to  the  river  Nene.  In  several  records  mention  is  made  of  a  castle, 
which  perhaps  was  originally  founded  by  Argeline  de  Waterville,  a  Norman 
knight,  who  at  Domesday  owned  lands  here,  and  who  also  obtained  church  fees 
from  the  abbot  of  Burgh,  to  defend  him  against  Hereward  the  Wake.  The  place 
continued  in  his  family  till  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  when  we  find,  in  1299,  a  Sir 
William  de  Tochet  possessed  of  Thorpe  ;  but  three  years  after  the  castle  and 
manor  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  Walter  Langton,  Bishop  of  Lichfield  and 
Coventry,  at  a  time  when  probably  the  old  fortress  had  become  somewhat 
obsolete,  according  to  the  requirements  of  the  day,  and  the  bishop  erected  a  large 
mansion  upon  ground  now  part  of  the  Exeter  property,  where  a  site  called  Castle 
Hill  may  be  found,  with  traces  of  foundations. 

Edward  II.  deprived  Bishop  Langton  of  Thorpe,  and  Aymer  de  Valence,  Earl 
of  Pembroke,  then  had  it,  but  surrendered  it  to  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  at 
whose  execution  Pembroke  obtained  a  fresh  grant  of  the  castle  and  manor. 
Next,  the  Hollands  possessed  these,  and  from  them  they  passed  to  John,  Lord 
Lovell.  Thorpe  must  have  been  a  fortress  of  importance  during  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses,  and  must  have  sustained  a  siege,  too,  since  one  of  the  Paston  Letters 
(No.  162),  written  from  London  six  days  after  the  battle  of  Towton,  giving  an 
account  of  that  battle,  adds  :  "  Thorp  Waterfield  is  yielded  ; "  which  seems  to 
show  that  it  was  tenable  and  in  strength  at  that  time.  Confiscated  then,  the 
estate  was  granted  to  Anne,  Duchess  of  Exeter,  from  whom  it  next  came  to 
Thomas,  Marquis  of  Dorset.     Richard  III.  restored  it  to  the  Lovells,  but  after  the 


NORTH  AMI'TOXSITIRE  34I 

battle  of  Stoke,  where  Francis,  Viscount  Ia)Vc11,  loujilit  at^ainst  Henr\-  VII., 
Thorpe  was  j»iven  by  tliat  Kini»  to  liis  mother,  Marj^aret,  Countess  of  Richmond, 
who  is  called  "the  first  female  auth(jr  in  Kngland:"  after  her  death,  in  ijcx^,  it 
reverted  to  the  Crown  until  5  Edward  VI.,  when  it  was  {^ranted  to  Sir  W.  Cecil, 
Lord  Burleigh,  in  whose  family  it  remained  until  it  passed  by  exchange  t<j  the 
Powis  family,  represented  by  the  present  owner,  I^jrd  Lilford. 

Bishop  Lanj^ton's  licence  is  dated  29  Edward  1.,  and  what  still  exists  would 
belong  to  his  "  sumptuous  mansion."  There  is  "  what  may  have  been  a  great 
chamber,  now  converted  into  a  barn"  (Murray),  and  a  line  f<jurteenth  century 
gable  chimney  projects  from  the  X.  wall,  while  the  moats  and  foundations  can 
be  clearly  traced.  The  building  was  two  storeys  in  height.  A  porch  on  the  E. 
side  was  taken  down  in  1825,  and  a  chimney  at  the  S.  end  has  been  removed; 
but  there  remains  a  remarkable  example  of  an  early  skew  arch  spanning  the 
brook  over  the  road,  which  is  of  Langton's  date. 


WOO  DC  RO  FT    HOrSK  (minor) 

Is  situated  about  si.\  miles  X.  of  IVterborough,  near  Helpston  Station,  in  the 
parish  of  Ettoii.  It  can  scarcely  be  called  a  castle,  but  being  provided  with 
a  moat,  and  originally  two  strong  towers,  it  was  a  place  of  some  strength.  The 
moat  was  once  carried  round  the  four  sides  of  a  quadrangle,  measuring  about 
no  feet  square:  one  entire  side  of  this  and  part  of  an  adjacent  side  were 
occupied  by  the  house,  the  point  at  the  X.  end  where  these  two  members  meet  at 
right  angles  being  protected  by  a  circular  tower  of  three  storeys  :  there  was 
once  a  corresponding  tower  at  the  other  end  of  the  principal  front.  The 
moat  is  wide  and  washes  the  other  fronts  of  the  house,  having  been  hlled  in 
elsewhere.  It  is  supposed  that  the  quadrangle  may  have  been  completed  by 
offices  and  other  buildings  of  wood  and  plaster.  (Sec  vol.  i.  of  H.  Turner's 
"  Domestic  Architecture,"  and  vol.  ii.  p.  ij^i),  where  a  drawing  of  the  castle  is 
given. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  111.  Herbert  and  Roger  de  Woodcroft  held  half  a 
knight's  fee  of  the  Abbot  of  Peterborough  ("Burgh  "),  and  in  the  26  Edward  I. 
Lawrence  Preston  held  one  quarter  fee  of  the  same  head.  Temp.  Henry  VI. 
John  Baxsted  was  there,  and  wa>  killed  at  the  battle  of  Xorlhampton  in  14(14. 
Then,  in  29  Henry  VI 11.,  Willi.im  Kit/William  held  part  of  these  lands,  and 
18  James  I.  Su  William  FitzWilliam  died  seised  of  Woodcroft  Manor  ;  from  him 
it  has  descended  to  its  present  possesMir,  Earl  Kitzwilliam. 

In  1O48  the  (jld  manor-place  of  Woodcroft  was  formed  into  a  Royalist 
garrison,  under  the  command  of  Dr.  MkIi.uI  Hudson,  a  Westmorland  man, 
who  had  fought  at  Edgehill  in  1642,  and  then,  retiring  to  study  at  Oxford,  Ivcame 
a  D.D.,  and  was  appointed  chaplain  to  the  King.  In  company  with  Mr.  Ash- 
burnham,  he  attended  Charles   1.  when,  in  those  perplexing  d.iys  at  Xcwark,  he 


342 


CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 


put  himself  in  tlie  hands  of  tlie  Scots  army.  Then  the  ParHament  got  hold  of 
the  doctor,  and  placed  him  in  prison  in  London,  whence  he  made  his  escape  ; 
but  being  retaken  at  Hull,  he  was  sent  to  the  Tower.  Here  he  escaped  again, 
early  in  1648,  and  going  to  Lincolnshire,  raised  a  body  of  horse,  and  retired 
to  this  stronghold  of   Woodcroft,  where  he  entrenched  himself  with  his  party 

against  the  Parliamen- 
tary troops.  These, 
however,  attacking  on 
June  6  got  possession 
of  the  house,  when 
Hudson,  with  some  of 
his  picked  men,  retired 
into  the  tower,  and 
there  defended  them- 
selves for  a  long  time. 
At  last  he  yielded  upon 
promise  of  quarter, 
which  faith  the  Round- 
heads kept  by  swarm- 
ing up  and  throwing 
Hudson  over  the  para- 
pet, and  on  his  clinging 
to  a  stone  gargoyle  to 
save  himself,  they 
chopped  off  his  lingers,  so  that  he  fell  into  the  moat  "  much  wounded ; "  here, 
while  swimming  ashore  and  praying  to  be  allowed  to  land  to  die,  he  was  knocked 
on  the  head  by  a  soldier  W'ith  the  butt  end  of  his  musket.  A  savage,  "  a  low- 
bred shopkeeper  of  Stanford,"  cut  out  poor  Hudson's  tongue,  and  carried  it 
about  the  country  as  a  trophy.  His  friends,  however,  buried  him  honourably 
at  Uflingham.  Dr.  Hudson  is  the  original  of  Dr.  Kocklifte  in  the  novel 
of  "  Woodstock." 

Hudson  Turner  is  of  opinion  that  the  excellent  architecture  of  this  house  is 
rather  of  the  fourteenth  than  the  thirteenth  century,  and  that  it  was,  perhaps,  built 
under  the  guidance  of  John  de  Calceto  (Caux,  in  Normandy),  who  was  Abbot  of 
Peterborough  in  the  reign  of  Edward  1.,  and  built  there  the  beautiful  gate  of  the 
Bishop's  palace,  which,  like  this  house,  has  some  foreign  peculiarities.  The  main 
front  on  the  \V.  is  two  storeys  in  height,  but  in  its  centre  rises  a  square  tower  of 
three  storeys,  under  which  is  the  arched  entrance  to  the  interior,  passing  through, 
under  two  large  arches,  without  any  doors  opening  into  the  building,  and  having, 
at  the  back,  a  square  projection  with  a  staircase.  The  basement  of  this  wing  is 
lighted  by  small  windows,  and  the  principal  storey,  containing  the  hall  on  one  side 
of  the   entrance   tower,  has  the  square-headed  trefoil   windows  of  the  period  in 


WOODCROFT 


NO  RT 1 1 A  M  I'TOXSH  I RK  343 

question  divided  into  two  lij^iits  by  a  Ininsoni.     The  room  over  the  jjatewav  (in 

which  tlierc  was  no  portciilhs),  was  used  as  a  chapel,  and  lij^htcd  hva  ' 

headed  window.     This  room  communicated  l\v  a  staircase  with  the  1 

tile  roof.     The  roiuul  tower  is  divided  into  three  storeys,  which  are  marked  by  Jive 

iine  bold  mouldings,  and  its  basement  is  peculiar  in  having  no  communiaiting 

doorwav  ;   so  it  must  have  been  used  as  a  prison,  or  storehouse,  bv  means  of  a 

tr.kp-d(j(jr.     The  place  is  now  a  farmhouse. 


KENILWORTH 


Marwichsbive 


A  N  S  L  E  Y   {non-existent) 

THIS  was  near  Nuneaton,  and  li  miles  from  Arley  station,  and  was  a 
fortress  belonging  to  the  Hastings  family  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  but 
little  is  known  about  it,  and  it  appears  to  have  been  deserted  at  an 
early  period.  In  Camden's  time  there  remained  some  "mouldering 
towers  covered  with  ivy."  There  are  still  traces  of  the  Norman  castle  built  here 
in  1 1 25  by  Hugh  Hadreshall.  The  old  hall,  of  a  later  date,  forms  part  of  some 
farm  buildings  now,  and  there  is  a  portion  of  the  Norman  chapel  remaining  ;  the 
boundary  walls  are  pierced  with  eyelets  for  crossbow  fire.  This  castle  is  some- 
times mentioned  as  "  Filongley."  Johannes  de  Hastings  had  a  licence  to  crcnellate 
his  house  in  29  Edward  I.  (1300). 


AST  LEY   {minor) 

ASTLEY  Castle  was  near  Nuneaton,  being  once  the  principal  residence  of  the 
family  of  that  name,  whose  barons  flourished  in  the  reigns  of  Edward  I.,  II. 
and  111. ;  for  want  of  male  succession  the  lands  and  castle  fell  to  a  daughter  and 
iieiress,  who  became  the  second  wife  of  Reginald  Grey,  Lord  of  Ruthin,  from 
>vhom  descended  the  Greys,  Marquises  of  Dorset,  some  of  whom  are  buried  in  the 


WARWICKSHIRE  345 

neighbouring  church,  founded  by  Thomas,  Lord  Astley.  Their  descendant  Henry, 
Duke  of  Suffolk,  tlio  f;ither  (jf  Ludy  Jane  Grey,  was  betrayed  liere  bv  his  own  park- 
keeper,  after  the  insurrection  of  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  in  1553,  in  whicli  he  had  Ixrcn 
enlisted,  and  being  taken  to  London  he  was  attainted  and  beheaded  (1554).  At 
this  time  it  appears  that  tlie  castellated  mansion  was  dismantled  and  so  fell  into 
ruin.  It  was  rebuilt  at  a  later  date,  and  the  lines  of  the  old  structure  can  Ix*  traced 
by  the  moat  which  surrounded  il,  along  the  inner  edge  of  which  are  ram^td  the 
remains  of  massive  walls  ;  the  area  is  not  extensive. 

The  existing  castle  is  probably  not  older  in  date  than  (Jueen  Mary's  rc-ign. 
The  entrance  into  the  court  is  by  a  stone  bridge  with  embattled  para|x-ts,  and  a 
sinular  crenellated  paiajiet  riuis  along  the  top  of  the  biulding,  which  is  a  plain 
square  block,  with  heavy  mullioned  windows,  the  rooms  cold  and  gloomy  ;is  in 
most  of  the  sixteenth-centiuy  structures.  On  the  staircase  are  still  kept  the  writing 
table  and  chair  found  in  an  old  oak  tree  in  which  the  Duke  of  Sutfolk  hid  after  the 
failure  of  the  Kentish  rising  under  Wyatt. 

B  A  G I X  G  T  O  X    {mit-cxislenl) 

TIIb^SK  lantls,  near  Coventiy,  were  tile  property  of  Turchill  de  Warwick,  who 
Iniilt  Warwick  Castle  tor  Willi. mi  the  Conqueror,  but  his  posterity  were 
not  suffered  to  enjoy  any  of  his  property  by  the  severity  of  William  against  all 
English  nobles.  The  place  took  its  name  from  the  Bagots,  who  owned  it  from  the 
time  of  Richard  II.  till  the  reign  of  Henry  V.,  and  alter  them  it  went  to  the 
Hromlevs.  There  was  a  castellated  mansion  reared  there  of  which  nothing 
remains  except  the  earthworks,  and  one  piece  of  masonry  showing  where  the 
castle  stood. 

Henry  1.  granted  the  lands  to  the  de  Arden  family,  who  derived  from  the  son 
of  the  Saxon  Turchill  ;  they  were  succeeded  by  the  family  of  le  Savage  (32 
Heiiiy  111.),  and  in  the  same  reign  the  King  added  this  to  the  large  |X)ssessions 
of  the  le  Marmions  of  Tamworth  (</.;•.).  The  only  recorded  point  of  historic  interest 
respecting  this  castle  seems  to  be  the  fact  that  Henry,  Earl  of  Hereford,  the  son  of 
(olm  of  Gaunt,  and  after\Vards  King  Henry  IV.,  lodged  in  it  previous  to  his  intended 
ctMubat  with  Thomas  Mowbray,  Duke  of  Norfolk  (21  Richard  II.  13<»H),  .iiid 
hence  he  issued  on  the  morning  of  the  projected  encounter,  armed  at  all  ixmits, 
and  mounted  on  a  white  charger,  and  repaired  to  the  lists  at  Gosford  Green,  near 
C(nentiy,  where  the  incidents  so  closely  narrated  by  Shakespeare  took  place.  The 
lances  were  measured  and  proved  of  equal  length,  and  delivered,  .iiid  the 
champions  about  to  spur  at  each  other,  when  the  King  stop|H.'d  the  contest, 
banishing  Bolingbroke  for  ten  years  from  the  countr)-,  and  Mowbray  for  life. 


vol..  I.  .:  X 


346  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

B  R I N  K  L  O  W    {non-existent) 

IX  tlie  vicinity  of  the  Koman  eartliworks  here  was  an  old  castle  of  the 
Mowbrays,  which  had  many  estates  in  tlie  neighbourhood  belonging  to  it. 
It  afterwards  passed  to  the  de  Stutevilles,  but  time  had,  in  Camden's  days, 
"destroyed  its  very  ruins,"  and  scarcely  a  vestige  now  remains.  Here  was  a  Roman 
camp  containing  25  acres.  Adjoining  the  Foss  Way  and  on  the  X.  is  a  high  cliff, 
where  was  a  fortress  of  earlier  date  than  the  Conquest.     (Gough.) 


call: DON,    OR    CALEDOX    {non-cxistcnt) 

LIES  3.^1  miles  N.E.  from  Coventry,  near  where  the  Wyken  road  separates  from 
the  main  road  to  Hinckley.  Nothing  remains  of  the  structure  of  an 
extensive  castle  which  once  stood  here,  the  existing  ruined  wall  belonging  to  the 
later  Elizabethan  mansion  which  occupied  its  site,  and  which  has,  in  its  turn, 
vanished. 

The  estate  of  Caludon,  comprising  about  200  acres,  with  a  small  park,  a  large 
pool,  and  two  watermills,  became  the  property,  after  the  Conquest,  of  the  Earls  of 
Chester,  and  was  given  by  the  last  Earl,  Ralph,  to  Stephen  de  Segrave. 

A  Segrave  was  Chief  Justice  of  England  in  the  reign  of  Stephen,  and  the 
family  continued  here,  and  bore  the  title  of  Baron  as  long  as  the  male  line  lasted. 
Gilbert  de  Segrave  married  the  heiress  of  Chancumb  (Berkeley),  and  his  son, 
Nicholas,  was  succeeded  by  a  son,  John  de  Segrave,  who,  in  1305  (33  Edward  I.), 
obtained  a  licence  to  crenellate  his  house  of  Calvedon,  and  protect  it  with  a  moat 
and  a  wall.  This,  therefore,  may  be  taken  as  the  date  of  erection  of  the  castle, 
which  his  son  afterwards  enlarged  by  a  chapel  and  other  buildings.  His  grandson, 
John,  the  last  of  his  line,  married  Margaret,  Duchess  of  Norfolk,  daughter  of 
Thomas  de  Brotherton,  son  of  Edward  1.  (created  Earl  Marshal,  1315),  and 
liad  a  daughter  Elizabeth,  who  carried  the  rank  of  Earl  Marshal  of  England  and 
Duke  of  Norfolk  to  her  husband,  Thomas  de  Mowbray,  a  powerful  Lincolnshire 
baron  from  Ancholme. 

Then  occurs  the  incident  connecting  Caludon  with  the  history  of  the  country. 
Thomas  Mowbray,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  the  son  and  successor  of  the  above,  was 
living  here  in  1398,  at  the  time  when  he  accused  Henry  of  Bolingbroke,  afterwards 
Henry  IV.,  of  treason  against  King  Richard  II.,  as  so  powerfully  described  by 
Shakespeare.  The  King,  having  failed  to  reconcile  the  two  nobles,  ordered  the 
combat  between  them,  claimed  by  Henry,  to  take  place  near  Mowbray's  castle  of 
Caludon,  at  lists  prepared  at  Gosford  Green,  between  the  castle  and  Coventry. 
Here  took  place  the  scene  which  ended  in  the  banishment  of  Norfolk  for  life,  and 
of  Henry  for  ten  years  {$cc  also  B.agixgtox).  Mowbray,  on  the  accession  of  his 
enemy,  died  after  several  years  of  exile,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  John, 
whose  daughter  and  heiress,  Anne,  was  married  at  the  age  of  seven  to  Richard, 


WARWICKSHIRE  ^47 

Duke  of  York,  imirdercd  in  the  Tower.  Slic-  died,  still  a  cliild,  and  her  x-ast 
iiiiieritancc  went  to  the  families  of  her  two  aunts,  Cahidon  lx.-inf,'  possessed  bv 
William,  Marquis  of  Berkeley,  the  son  of  Lady  Isabel  Mowbrav,  and  continiun^ 
in  the  Berkeley  family  until  1632,  when  the  castle  and  manor  were  sold  by  Lord 
George,  to  Thomas  Morj^an,  of  Weston,  a  scion  of  the  family.  From  the  Ntor^jaiis 
the  place  passed  by  a  dauj^hter  to  Sir  John  Preston,  and  from  his  family,  by 
marriage,  to  Lord  ClitTord  of  Chadleif;h,  whose  descendant  in  iKoo  built,  with 
materials  from  the  ruins,  the  present  farmhouse.  The  owner  now  is  the  Rev. 
E.  H.  Garrard,  of  Marston  Sicca,  Warwick. 

The  plan  of  the  orij^inal  castle  was  oval,  enclosinj^  about  an  acre  of  j»round, 
surrounded  by  an  embattled  wall  with  towers,  and  havinj,'  an  exterior  moat,  which 
is  still  visible  on  three  sides,  thou^^li  dry.  The  entrance  was  on  the  K.  side  by  a 
jjatehouse  and  bridj^e,  and  the  chief  ajiartments  were  built  on  the  N.  and  W.  of 
the  enclosure,  the  kitchens  and  offices  lyinj^  on  the  S.  and  E.  sides,  with  farm 
buildings  beyond  the  moat.  A  bowlinj^-green  and  ;^ardens  ap|X'ar  to  have  lam 
about  200  yards  S.  from  the  moat.  .\  tield  of  three  acres  still  retains  the  name  of 
"  The  Pool." 

in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  the  old  castle  appears  to  have  given  way  to  a  more 
modern  mansion,  said  by  Mrs.  Hodges  ("  Some  Ancient  English  Homes,"  iH<y3) 
to  have  been  erected  about  15H0,  when  there  remained  the  porter's  lodge,  the 
buildings  towards  the  great  pool  on  the  N.W.  of  Caludon  House,  with  the 
brewing-house,  stables,  and  many  other  out-houses,  both  witliin  and  without 
the  moat ;  the  roofs  of  those  old  castle  buildings  were  taken  down,  and  so  altered 
was  the  whole  house  that  it  might  be  saitl  to  have  been  moulded  and  made  new, 
but  for  the  banqueting  house  on  the  X.  side  of  the  said  p<iol,  which  was  the  work 
of  the  Lady  Elizabeth,  wife  of  Sir  Thomas  Berktliv,  in  tlie  40th  and  41st  years 
of  Elizabeth." 

The  solitary  massive  fragment  of  wall  which  alone  has  survived,  is  a  part  of 
this  hall  ;  it  is  4J,  feet  thick,  and  60  feet  in  height,  havingtwo  line  Late  Perpendicular 
windows  remaining  of  the  hall  lights,  and  two  lower  windows  of  the  ground  lloor 
rooms  below  the  hall,  with  a  fireplace.  The  chapel,  which  was  on  the  W.  side  of 
these  apartments,  has  disappeared  of  late  years. 

Caludon  is  said  to  have  been    dismantled  and  destroyed  during  the  Civil  W.ii 
between  King  Charles  I.  and  the  Parliament. 


C  A  S  T  Lh:    H  R  0  M  W  I  C  II    {,iou-exislc,it) 

Ni:.AR  Birmingham.  On  elevated  ground,  which  is  still  called  C;ustlc  Hill, 
overlooking  the  valleys  of  the  Tame  and  Cole  rivers,  history  relates  that 
there  existed  a  castle  belonging  to  one  "  Henricus  de  Castel  Bromwyz,"  a  Norman 
baron  (or,  as  some  say,  William  Fitz.Ahsculf),  although  there  are  now  no  traci-s 
of  it.     The  manor  and  castle  came  in  later  times  to  the  Lords  Ferrers  of  Chiirtley, 


348  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  after  them,  in  1450,  to  the  Devereux  family,  wlio,  in  1657,  sold  them  to  John 
Bridgeman,  the  son  of  Sir  Orlando  Bridgeman,  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal, 
the  ancestor  of  the  Earls  of  Bradford,  whose  seat  is  at  Castle  Bromwich  Hall, 
built  by  Sir  Ed.  Devereux,  Bart.  (temp.  James  I.).  Xo  traces  of  a  castle  are  to  be 
found  here,  hut  at  Ward  End,  between  Castle  Bromwich  and  Birmingham, 
anciently  called  Little  Bromwich,  are  the  remains  of  the  moats  and  mounds, 
covering  a  considerable  area,  of  a  former  castle,  or  defensible  mansion,  now 
demolished,  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Bradford. 

COLESHILL    {non-cxistcnl) 

ACCORDING  to  Gough  this  place  had  a  castle  which  belonged  to  the 
de  Clinton  family  (temp.  Henry  II.),  and  passed  from  them  by  an  heiress 
to  the  JMountforts.  But  Sir  Simon  Mountfort,  in  Henry  VI I. 's  reign,  having  been 
a  zealous  Yorkist,  favoured  the  pretensions  of  Perkin  Warbeck,  believing  him  to 
be  the  son  of  Edward  IV.,  as  he  pretended,  and  forwarding  a  sum  of  money  ;  for 
this  he  was  attainted  by  Henry,  and  was  executed  at  Tyburn,  when  his  large 
propertv  was  confiscated.  There  are  no  traces  of  the  castle  now  remaining.  The 
manor  was  at  once  given  bv  Heiuy  VII.  to  Simon  Digby,  Deputy  Constable  of  the 
Tower,  in  whose  familv,  ennobled  by  the  title  of  Earl  Digbv,  Viscount  Coleshill, 
it  still  remains. 

COMPTON    WINY  ATE    {minor).      (5^.?  Fulbroke) 


COMPTON  WIXVATE  is  a  very  fine  brick  mansion,  built  in  15J0  (,w 
Fi'LBROKE)  by  Sir  William  Compton,  who  obtained  a  licence  to  enclose  a 
park,  and  for  the  custody  of  the  neighbouring  castle  of  Fulbroke.  It  cannot  be 
called,  however,  a  defensible  house  or  fortress,  though  protected  by  a  moat,  which, 
during  the  Civil  War,  preserved  the  house,  by  its  drawbridge,  from  an  attack  by  the 
forces  of  Cromwell,  who,  fortimatelv,  did  not  possess  artillery.  In  1646,  the 
owner,  William,  Earl  of  Northampton,  a  zealous  adherent  of  King  Charles,  was 
killed  at  the  fight  at  Hopton  Heath,  in  Staffordshire,  when  this  house  was  taken  in 
hand  and  garrisoned  by  the  Parliament.  Charles  I.  slept  here  before  the  battle  of 
Edgehill,  and  after  that  fight  there  were  200  wounded  cavaliers  received  into  the 
long  room  of  the  mansion. 

FILLONGLEY   {non ■existent) 

ABOUT  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  Fillongley  Church,  southward,  are  the 
scanty  remains  of  a  castle  which  once  belonged  to  the  family  of  Hastings, 
before  they  became  Earls  of  Pembroke  ;  the  place  is  now  known  as  the  "  Castle 
Yard,"  and  is  situated  on  low  marshv  ground  at  a  spot  enclosed  by  the  conflux  of 


WARWICKSniKK  3^^ 

two  streams.  It  could  not  liave  Ixcii  a  lortichs  ol  any  ^reat  size,  tiiuu;>h,  perhaps, 
from  the  suiroundiiij^  marsh,  it  may  have  been  of  some  stren;4tl>.  The  manor,  of  two 
hides  extent,  is  mentioned  in  the  Domesday  Survey,  and  (temp.  Henrv  111.)  (Icr.ird 
de  Alspath  held  hall  a  hide  from  the  monks,  as  a  (.piarter  knij^ht's  fee  ;  then  a  half 
hide  was  held  by  Robert  le  Despencer,  of  which  |iart  came  to  the  .Marmions,  and 
from  them  to  the  Earls  of  Leicester,  from  whom  perhaps  it  was  obtained  by  the 
Hastings  family,  since  (temp.  Henry  I.)  Hugh  or  Walter  de  Hastings  dwelt  lure. 
In  2()  Edward  1.  Johannes  de  Hastings  has  a  licence  to  crenellafe  nuiiu-hnm  suinii 
cl  viUiiiii,  Kihmgeieye,  but  there  must  have  been  a  fortified  house  here  before  that 
time,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  only  residence  of  the  familv  until  the  reign 
of  Henry  11!.,  when  Sir  Henry  de  Hastings  married  Joan  de  Cantehiix-,  sister  of 
the  sainted  Bislmp  TliDinas,  and  heiress  of  William,  Lord  of  Hergavennv.  This 
Henry  was  a  bold  supporter  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  and  after  the  defeat  of 
Evesham,  held  out  at  Keiiilworth  with  the  younger  Simon  in  a  siege  that  defied 
the  King's  forces  during  si.xteen  months,  when  Hastings  put  himself  out  of  the 
pale  of  pardon  by  ruthlessly  nuitilating  a  Koyal  herald  sent  to  the  castle  ;  for  this 
act  he  was  sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  of  seven  years,  and  his  estates  were 
divided  between  his  enemies  Roger  de  ClilTord,  Roger  de  Leybourne,  and  (iillKit 
de  Clare.  Henry  de  Hastings  died,  however,  two  years  after,  in  I26f>,  and  his  son 
John,  having  married  Isabel,  sister  and  co-heir  of  Aylmer  de  Valence,  the  earldom 
of  Pembioke  afterwards  came  into  his  family,  in  lyy).  John,  obtaining  his 
mother's  lands  in  Wales  as  above,  lived  at  Abergavenny,  and  that  title  was 
subsequently  merged  in  tiiat  of  Hastings.  (Blaauw.)  The  whole  projxrrty  then 
passed  by  marriage  to  the  Greys  de  Ruthin,  from  which  family  it  was  conveyed  to 
William  de  Heauchamp,  who  made  a  part  over  to  his  brother  Thomas,  Earl  of 
Warwick,  and  the  rest,  including  Killongley,  went,  at  the  death  of  his  son  Richard, 
with  tiiat  lord's  daughter  in  marriage  to  Edward  Neville  (mc  Aukkg.WEXXY, 
MONMOl'TH).  The  abeyance  of  this  ancient  barony  of  Hastings  was  determined 
in  1841  in  favour  of  Sir  Jacob  .Astley. 

What  remains  of  Killongley  is  the  trace  of  an  oval  castle,  lying  .xs  to  its  longer 
axis  X.W.  and  S.K.  in  a  length  of  So  feet,  and  measuring  50  feet  across.  A  few 
fragments  of  the  wall  exist,  four  of  these  having  been  overturned,  and  a  fifth 
remaining  /;/  .s/7//,'  the  line  of  the  wall  between  these  can  be  made  out.  Outside, 
the  ground  slopes  down  E.  and  W.  to  the  rivulets,  and  S.  to  an  earthen  iam|^iit 
30  yards  distant,  beyond  which  was  a  wet  ditch  connecting  the  two  streams.  The 
entrance  appears  to  have  been  in  the  S.  end. 

I'  r  [ ,  P,  K'  ()  K  V.    {iion-(xisUnf) 

AliOlT  three  miles  S.  of   Warwick,  towards  Stnitford-on-Avon,  there  may 
be  seen  at  a  farmhouse    a   moat   enclosing    an    oblong  space  of   half    an 
acre  in   extent,  now  an  orchard,  the  site  eviilently  of  an  ancient  building;  and 


350  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

then  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  this,  on  the  summit  of  a  rising  ground  called  Castle 
Hill,  stood  Fuibroke  Castle,  a  castellated  house  built  hy  John,  Duke  of  Bedford, 
third  son  of  Henry  IV.,  and  bequeathed  at  his  death  to  his  nephew,  Henry  VI. 
Imniediatelv  before  tliis,  Joan,  the  wife  of  Lord  Bergavenny,  the  brother  of 
Thomas  Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  possessed  Fuibroke,  built  here  a 
handsome  gatehouse  and  a  lodge.  Edward  IV.  granted  the  manor  to  Richard 
Neville,  Earl  of  Warwick,  "  the  King-maker,"  and  the  place  accompanied 
the  earldom  until  the  attainder  of  John  Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland,  the 
father-in-law  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  beheaded  by  Queen  Mary  on  Tower  Hill  in  1553. 
In  connection  with  the  King-maker,  Ear!  Richard,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  on 
the  face  of  the  Edgehill  in  the  S.  of  the  county,  and  facing  this  castle,  though 
eight  or  nine  miles  distant,  is  cut  out  the  figure  of  a  horse,  called  the  Red 
Horse,  being,  by  tradition,  a  memorial  of  this  famous  earl,  who  at  the  battle 
of  Towton  is  said  to  have  dismounted  and  killed  his  charger,  in  order  to 
encourage  his  men  by  showing  them  that  he  himself  would  be  unable,  in  case  of 
defeat,  to  escape,  and  would  therefore  share  their  risks.  As  the  ceremony  of 
"  scouring"  the  Horse  on  the  hill  is  observed  on  Palm  Sunday,  on  which  day  the 
battle  was  fought,  there  seems  to  be  some  strength  in  the  story. 

Leland  says  that  the  castle  at  Fuibroke  was  "  an  eyesore  to  the  earls  that  lay  in 
Warwick  Castle,  and  was  the  cause  of  displeasure  between  each  lord";  and  that  it 
was  "  a  praty  castle  made  of  stone  and  bricke."  But  even  in  the  time  of  Rous, 
the  antiquarv,  who  wrote  temp.  Henry  VII.,  Fuibroke  was  in  a  ruinous 
condition,  and  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  Sir  William  Compton  pulled  the 
old  castle  down  and  transpoi'ted  the  materials  to  build  his  house  at  Compton 
W^inyate.  Nothing  remains  at  this  day  above  ground  of  Fuibroke  Castle,  or  of 
the  gatehouse,  or  the  lodge,  but  early  in  this  century  some  vestiges  were  discovered 
in  digging  on  the  site  ;  they  consisted  of  a  brick  vault,  with  stone  steps,  and  some 
fragments  of  Gothic  windows.  This  is  the  actual  locality  where  Shakespeare's  raid 
on  the  deer  of  Sir  Thomas  Lucy  took  place. 

HARTSHILL    (mmor) 

TOWARDS  the  N.  of  the  county,  above  Coventry,  there  is  quite  a  nest,  or 
rather,  a  chain  of  castles  ;  Maxstoke,  F'illongley,  Astley,  Ansley,  and,  finally, 
Hartshill,  being  on  the  S.  and  within  sight  of  Atherstone  on  the  Watling  Street, 
and  the  last  of  the  line.  The  place  was  settled  by  Saxons,  and  was  called  Ardens- 
bill,  and  in  Domesday  Ardreshill  ;  then  it  was  given  with  Ansley  to  Hugh  Lupus, 
Earl  of  Chester,  and  called  Hardreshull,  and  Harteshull,  finally  Hartsiiill.  The 
village  was  built  at  the  end  of  a  hilly  plain.  The  nephew  and  heir  of  Lupus, 
Ranulph  de  Meschines,  gave  both  Hartshill  and  its  castle  to  his  kinsman  Hugh, 
about  the  year  1125  ;  he  assumed  the  name  of  Hardreshull,  and  built  himself  a 
manor-house  at  the  end  of  the  ridge,  commanding  a  view  of  Atherstone, 


WARWICKSHIRE  35, 

To  Hiij^li  succeeded  Rcjhcit,  and  alter  him,  William,  who  wrote  himself  de 
Haidicshiiil,  as  his  ^'raiidfather  did  ;  the  property  continued  in  tliat  fauuly  til! 
lo  Edward  II.,  when  the  name  of  the  owner  chan;.;es  to  Cul|>eper.  Sir  John  de 
Hardresluill,  the  last,  attended  Edward  II.  in  his  wars,  and  w;ls  taken  prisoner  at 
Baiuiockhurn.  He  was  in  hij^h  repute  with  the  Kin;^,  lieinj;'  appointed  a  Koval 
Commissioner,  and  Governor  of  several  castles,  and  of  the  Forest  of  Dean  ;  he 
married  Marj4aret,  dau^^hter  of  Sir  James  Stafford,  of  Shendon,  Knt.,  with 
issue  three  daughteis,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Eli/.al>eth,  brou;4lit  Hartshill  |(j  her 
hu'^lr.uul.  John  Cnlpeper,  who  long  enjoyed  the  estate. 

Below  the  castle  are  the  plains,  called  by  the  Romans  their  Campus  Nfarlius, 
and  so  used  by  them,  no  doubt  being  included  under  the  general  name  given  to 
the  locality,  of  Manduessedum,  afterwards  the  parish  of  Mancetter. 

At  almost  the  point  of  the  ridge  are  the  ruins  of  the  Xornian  castle,  surrounded 
with  strong  high  walls,  loopholed  for  crossbows,  and  with  buttresses  at  each  angle. 
Hartlett,  giving  a  drawing  of  the  place  in  1790,  says  that  this  wall,  excepting  in  its 
height,  is  tolerably  entire,  save  the  gate,  which  is  pulled  down.  There  ap|x.';ir  to 
have  been  octagonal  Hanking  towers  on  each  side  of  the  gatewav  ;  on  the  N.  is  the 
chapel,  the  E.  half  of  which  is  entire,  but  converted  into  a  stable;  the  mansion 
house  is  entirely  gone.  Hugh  de  Hardreshulle  also  imparked  a  tract  of  l.iiid 
adjoining  Caldecot  on  the  S.E.,  and  bounded  by  the  river,  a  part  of  which  still 
retains  the  name. 

At  this  locality,  in  the  year  1563,  was  born  the  poet,  Michael  Dravton. 

HENLEY,  OR   BEL   DESERT  {mu-cxisieut) 

OX  tlic  Alne  stream,  running  among  the  woods  near  the  town  of  Henlev,  the 
noble  family  of  Montfort  had  a  castle,  which,  from  its  ple:Ls;int  situation  in 
the  midst  of  the  forest,  tin  y  called  Bel,  or  Beaudesert.  It  was  a  strong  fortress,  and 
was  erected  by  Thurstan  de  .Montfort  shortly  after  the  Xorman  Coiu|iiest.  .md 
here  the  founder's  family  continued  to  reside  for  many  ages.  They  were  a  dilferent 
family  from  that  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester,  but  they  sided  with  him 
in  the  Barons'  War  (fenip.  Henrv  111.),  when  the  owner,  Peter  de  Montfort, 
was  slain  at  the  battle  (jf  Evesham,  and  his  castle  burnt.  The  castle  w;us 
unoccupied  in  the  early  part  of  the  Civil  War  between  York  and  Luicaster,  and 
was  then  dismantled.  "  Scarcely  any  traces  of  this  once  formidable  structure  can 
now  be  discovered. '  (Smith's  "  Warwickshire.")  The  site  may  l>e  verilied  by  the 
remains  of  the  vast  moat  carrieil  round  the  eminence  on  which  the  old  castle 
stood. 


352 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


KEN  I L  WORTH  {chief) 

A1*A1\T  from  the  j^reat  historical  interest  attachini;'  to  these  magnificent  ruins, 
they  deserve,  architecturally,  the  closest  examination  and  study,  containing, 
as  they  do,  elaborate  specimens  of  the  best  constructions,  in  both  military  and 
domestic  branches,  during  the  different  periods  of  the  art  in  this  country.  We 
find  tirst  the  massive  square  Norman  keep,  which  had  its  protecting  moat.    This 

was    the    work    of   the    original    grantee 
Geoffrey   de  Clinton,  the  treasurer  and 
chamberlain  of    Henry   I.     Next  comes 
an  era,  from  1180  to  1187,  when  we  find 
entries  for  building  and  repairs  to  walls 
and  fortifications;  and  again,  from  1 212  to 
1 216,  the  castle  being  then  in  the  hands  of 
King  John,  vast  sums  were  expended  upon 
the  outer  line  of  walls,  with  their  flanking 
defences  of  Lunn's  Tower  and  the  Water 
Tower,  and  upon  a  chamber  and  other 
accommodation   for   the    King,   most  of 
which    still   remains,  though  the   timber 
constructions  inside  and  against  the  walls 
have,  of  course,  not  survived.     The  next 
development  is  in  the  Late  Decorated  or 
Perpendicular  style,  including  the  ruins 
of  the  great  Hall  and  some  other  buildings 
at    the   west    end    of    the    inner    court, 
still  called  Lancaster's  Buildings,  of  the 
fourteenth    century,    rather    late    in    the 
reign  of  Edward  III.,  being  some  of  the 
additions  made  by  John  of  Gaunt,  after 
he  obtained  Kenilworth  by  his  first  wife. 
After  this  portion  come  the  various  alterations  and  insertions   of  the  Elizabethan 
period,  the  beautiful  gatehouse  on  the  north  side,  and  the  towers  and  works  added 
by  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  called  the  Leicester  Buildings.     Here 
are,  therefore,  examples  of  four  different  periods,  in  each  of  which  the  particular 
work   is  capable   of   proof  by  existing   documents,   showing  the    gradations  and 
changes  which  these  buildings  underwent,  accordmg  to  the  requirements  of  the 
different  ages,  in  passing  from  the  barbarism  of  a  military  despotism  to  the  comforts 
and  splendour  of  later  civilisation.     It  is  a  magnificent  specimen,  and  one  easy  of 
access.     As  we  have  said,  the  manor  of  Kenilworth  was  bestowed  by  Henry  I. 
upon  Geoffrey  de  Clinton,  who  founded  here  a  castle  and  a  monastery;  deriving, 
doubtless,  from  a  Norman  follower  of  Duke  William,  he  must  have  been  of  wortli 


KENILWORTH 


A  Swan  Tower. 

B  Sirong  Tower. 

C  Whitehall. 

D  Gardeiobe  Tower. 


\L  Leicester's  Buildings. 

F  Lobby. 

G  Hen.  VIII. 's  Lodgings. 

H  Lunn's  Tower. 


K    G.'iUery  Tower. 


;  derivingi 


«» 


I 


llK 


J 


'^a^sfsn^ 


\i 


WARWICKSHIRE  355 

arches  adjoining  the  hall  on  the  X.,  also  of  this  date  ;  the  same  origin  is  given  to 
the  Strong,  or  Mervin's  Tower,  as  it  is  called  by  Sir  Walter  Scott.  The  ancient 
garden  of  the  castle  was  situated  near  the  X.E.  angle  of  tlie  outer  wall,  where  the 
Swan  Tower  meets  the  lake  and  the  wet  ditch  on  the  N. 

Of  course  on  Henry  I\'.  succeeding,  the  Crown  resumed  the  ownership  of  the 
fortress,  and  thus  it  continued,  often  enlivened  by  the  visits  of  roj-alty,  until  the 
days  of  Elizabeth,  who  bestowed  it  on  her  favourite,  Robert  Dudlev,  tifth  son  of 
the  Duke  of  Xorthumlxrland,  with  all  the  royalties  thereto  iK-longuig.  Without 
enlarging  on  the  history  of  this  courtier,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  he  seenis  to  have 
expended  the  enormous  emoluments  derived  from  the  many  dignities  with  which 
Elizabeth  overwhelmed  him  in  his  lavish  outlay  upon  Kenilworth.  The  additions 
and  alterations  made  there  by  this  Dudley  involved  an  expenditure  of  ;^Vjo,ooo — 
an  incredible  sum  in  tliose  days.  He  erected  the  great  gatehouse  on  the  X.,  also 
the  mass  of  square  rooms  from  the  X.E.  angle  (jf  the  upper  court,  the  buildmgs 
called  after  him,  and  the  gallery  and  lower  gatehouse  towers,  together  with  a  great 
range  of  stabling.  He  removed  the  Xorman  windows  from  the  keep,  repl. icing 
them  by  more  modern  ones  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  the  great  object  of  his  outlay 
was  to  provide  magnificent  accommodation  for  the  entertainment  of  his  (Jueeii 
and  her  Court. 

This  reception  took  place  in  July  1575.  and  the  festivities  were  continued  for 
seventeen  days,  during  which  every  .sort  of  prodigal  extravagance  possible  at  that 
age  was  indulged  in.  It  cost  Leicester  ^/fiooo  a  day.  At  his  death  he  bequeathed 
the  castle  to  his  brother  Ambrose,  Earl  of  Warwick,  for  life,  and  afterwards  to  his 
own  son.  Sir  Robert  Dudlev,  upon  whose  birth  and  legitimacy  the  father  (who 
is  certainlv  one  of  the  dark  characters  in  English  history)  chose  to  throw 
doubts. 

This  seems  to  have  incited  that  greedy  monarch,  J.ime>  1.,  to  refuse  the 
succession  to  Sir  Robert,  whom  he  forced  to  consent  to  a  nominal  s:ile  of  the 
property  to  Henry,  Prince  (il  W.iles,  at  one-third  of  its  value,  and  even  that  w;ls 
never  paid.  Dudley,  in  disgust,  withdrew  from  England,  and  lived  in  nuich 
honour  at  Florence,  where  he  died  about  the  year  1650. 

When  the  place  fell  into  the  hands  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  a  sort  of  conunission 
of  army  officers  was  sent  to  Kenilworth  to  divide  and  share  the  projx-rty  Ix-twc-en 
them,  and  they,  caring  nothing  tor  historical  associations,  the  splendour  of  the 
structure,  or  the  richness  of  the  furniture  and  plenishing  (it  was  but  seventy-live 
years  after  the  entertainment  of  Elizabeth  there),  proceeded  to  strip  the  place,  to 
cut  the  timber,  kill  the  deer,  and  even  to  sell  the  walls  and  rooting  for  the  value  of 
the  bare  materials. 

At  the  Restoration,  Charles  11.,  granted  the  reversion  of  the  m.mor  to  I>;iwrencc, 
Lord  Hyde,  second  son  of  Lord  Chancellor  Clarendon,  whom  he  created  U.uon 
Kenilworth,  and  Earl  of  Rochester.  His  grandson  leaving  only  a  daughter,  the 
lands  and  the  ruins  came   by  marriage  to  Ihe  Essex  family,  and  afleiw.irds.  by 


356  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

marriage,  to  Thomas  Villiers,  the  second  son  of  the  Earl  of  Jersey,  created,  in  1756 
Baron  Hyde,  in  whose  family  they  still  continue. 

At  Keiiihvorth  was  immured  Eleanor  Cobham,  the  wife  of  Humphrey,  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  after  the  performance  of  her  penance  on  the  charge  of  practising 
witchcraft  against  Henry  VI.,  and  here  she  ended  her  days. 

As  in  most  other  cases  the  Norman  baron  founded  his  castle  on  the  site  of  a 
Saxon  home  with  a  fortified  burh  ;  a  square  keep  was  built  on  the  most  com- 
manding position,  perhaps  on  the  mound,  and  a  large  walled  enclosure  was 
made,  defended  on  the  W.,  S.  and  E.  sides  by  a  lake  and  by  a  deep  ditch  across 
the  N.  front.  Somewhat  on  the  W.  side  of  this  was  formed  the  inner  ward,  a 
rectangular  enclosure,  nearly  li  acres  in  area,  the  N.E.  corner  of  which  was 
occupied  by  Clinton's  keep.  This  is  a  plain  Late  Norman  edifice,  with  a  fore- 
building  on  the  W.  side,  and  containing  a  vaulted  basement  and  one  upper  floor 
only,  the  former  being  entirely  filled  with  earth.  The  main  floor  formed  one 
immense  room,  34  feet  bv  64,  and  about  40  feet  high.  The  forebuilding  contained 
the  staircase  of  approach  to  the  entrance  doorwav,  and  above  was  a  room, 
possibly  an  oratory.  Large  corner  turrets,  three  containing  mural  chambers  and 
one  a  large  spiral  stair,  cap  the  angles  of  the  keep,  the  walls  of  which  are  of 
immense  thickness.  There  is  no  evidence  as  to  what  was  the  nature  of  the  Norman 
buildings  in  this  ward,  since  they  have  been  replaced  bv  the  work  of  the  Earls  of 
Lancaster,  and  of  John  of  Gaunt,  and  are  called  by  their  name.  W.  from  the 
keep  are  the  ruined  kitchens,  showing  a  huge  fireplace  and  baking  ovens.  At 
the  N.W.  angle  is  the  Strong  Tower,  of  three  stages,  which  was  perhaps  used  as  a 
prison  for  persons  of  consequence.  Adjoining  this  is  the  Hall,  a  pure  Perpen- 
dicular building,  due  to  John  of  Gaunt,  beyond  which  was  the  white  hall,  and  next 
the  State  rooms,  which  are  connected  with  a  large  garderobe  tower.  Then  at  the 
S.E.  corner  comes  the  range  to  which  the  name  of  Leicester's  buildings  has  been 
given,  and  the  E.  face  to  the  keep  is  made  up  by  the  site  of  Dudley's  Lobby  and 
Henry  VIII. 's  lodgings,  but  all  this  has  perished. 

The  outer  ward  is  a  large  oblong  enclosure,  270  yards  long  from  E.  to  W.  by 
174  ;  at  its  E.  end  were  domestic  offices,  the  entrances  and  the  chapel.  Originally 
this  ward  was  divided  by  a  ditch  70  feet  wide,  running  N.  and  S.,  with  a  bridge 
for  access  to  the  inner  ward,  part  of  it  remaining  in  front  of  Leicester's  buildings, 
and  the  rest  having  been  filled  in  probably  by  Dudley  after  the  visit  of  Elizabeth. 
(Clark.)  This  outer  ward  contains  about  g  acres,  having  a  circumference  of 
750  yards  ;  it  is  formed  by  a  strong  curtain  wall  embracing  six  important  buildings  : 
namely,  the  octagon  Swan  Tower  on  the  N.W.,  Mortimer's  Tower,  or  the  gate- 
house, at  the  head  of  the  dam  across  the  lake,  called  either  after  Lord  Mortimer  of 
Wigmore  (temp.  Edward  III.),  or  from  Sir  John  Mortimer,  imprisoned  here  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  V.  Then  towards  the  E.  came  the  Warder's  Tower,  and  next  the 
Water  Tower  at  the  S.E.  corner,  a  complete  mural  bastion  of  Early  Decorated 
style ;  whence  the  curtain  runs  to  Lunn's  Tower  at  the  N.E.  angle,  a  round  building 


WARWICKSHIRE  35^ 

36  feet  ill  diameter  and  40  Iii^^h.  At  the  back  of  this  part  of  the  wall  is  a  long 
raiif^e  of  stabling  and  farm  buildinj^s,  with  an  upper  half-timlx-red  storey,  said 
to  have  been  built  by  the  great  Eail  Thomas  of  Lancaster,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  II.,  but  some  part  is  Late  Perpendicular.  Next  to  this  is  the  cha|x-l. 
W.  of  Lunns  Tower  is  the  building  called  Leicester's  Gatehouse,  built  in  1570, 
a  rectangular  tower  with  octangular  corner  turrets.  On  the  X.  side  of  the  great 
ditch,  which  is  cut  through  the  rock  and  forms  the  N.  defence,  is  Clinton's  Oreen, 
where  are  still  banks  of  earth,  probably  survivals  of  the  great  siege  by  Henry  III. 

In  front  of  Mortimer's  Tower  is  the  dam,  80  yards  long,  across  the  valley, 
having  at  its  further  end  the  remains  of  a  flood-gate  and  outer  gatehouse,  or  the 
gallery  tower,  with  a  drawbridge  here  over  the  outer  ditch.  This  was  the  point  at 
which  Queen  Elizabeth  made  her  entry.  Beyond  it  was  called  the  Hravz,  where 
tournaments  were  held,  as  they  also  were  on  the  dam  itself.  On  both  sides  of  the 
dam  extended  a  lake,  half  a  mile  long  on  the  \V.,  and  s(jme  12  feet  tieep,  u|v>n 
which  the  attack  by  ships  was  made  by  Henry  111.  Finallv,  bevond  the  Hravz 
was  a  great  curved  outwork  forming  a  telc-dii-poiil  in  front  of  the  entrance. 

The  keep,  or  Clinton's  Tower  was,  perhaps,  built  between  1170  and  iiKo. 
(Clark.)  Lunn's  Tower  may  be  the  work  of  King  John.  Heiirv  II  I.  ex|x-nded 
large  sums  at  Keniiworth,  and  to  him  is  ascribed  the  great  dam,  the  Water  and 
Warder's  Towers,  and  much  of  the  curtain  on  the  S.  and  E.  Robert  Dudlev, 
Earl  of  Leicester,  altered  the  keep  into  Tudor  style,  and  besides  the  buildings 
called  by  his  name,  added  the  Gallery  Tower,  and  the  gatehouse  in  the  N.E.,  "a 
very  line  example  of  a  declining  period  in  English  architecture."  Jcjhn  of  Gaunt 
certainly  built  the  great  Hill  (cir.  1390),  "one  of  the  most  beautiful  examples  of 
Early  Perpendicular  work  in  the  kingdom"  (Hartshorne);  and  he  is  said  to  have 
built  the  portion  called  Lancaster's  buildings,  between  C:esar's  Tower  and  the 
hill.  It  was  at  Keniiworth  during  one  of  her  visits  in  August  1572,  while  out 
hunting,  that  Queen  Elizabeth  read  as  she  rode  the  terrible  news  of  the  massiicre 
of  St.  Bartholomew. 


MAXSTOKK   CWSTI.K  (chief) 

IS  a  fine  example  of  a  fortified  dwelling  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  one  of 
the  few  structiues  that  have  been  preserved  in  their  original  defensible 
aspect  ;  it  stands  to  the  E.  of  Coleshill,  in  a  finely  wooded  park  with  an  aveinie  of 
lofty  elms  leading  up  to  it.  The  trace  of  the  outer  walls  is  a  parallelognun,  having 
octangular  flanking  towers  at  the  angles  ;  the  whole  is  in  excellent  prescT\-ation,and 
almost  unaltered,  giving  a  proof  of  the  state  in  which  we  might  reasonably  expect 
the  greater  portion  of  the  castles  in  this  country  to  have  survive<l,  had  they  met 
with  care  and  respect,  instead  of  the  neglect  and  wilful  destruction,  to  which  Ihev 
have  been  subjected  generally. 

The  great  gatehouse,  which   is   very  perfect  and  .1  line  ex.imple,  ip.i>  .■  jm— .i;;< 


358 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


with  a  stone  groined  roof,  and  in  front  is  flanked  with  hexagonal  towers  on  each 
side  of  tiie  entrance  ;  the  grooves  for  the  portcullis  are  there  still,  and  the  old  gates 
themselves,  faced  with  iron  plates  to  resist  fire,  remain  in  a  perfect  state,  with  the 

arms  of   the    Stafford    family,    a 

r 


«» 


knot  and  other  devices,  em- 
bossed on  the  iron.  Around 
the  bailey,  or  court,  against  the 
walls,  were  originally  buildings 
which  served  as  barracks  for  sol- 
diers, and  for  offices  ;  they  were 
usually  built  of  timber  quarter- 
ings,  with  the  interstices  in  rubble 
or  plaster  work,  and  could  not  of 
course  be  expected  to  last  as  long 
as  the  masonry.  Part  of  the  N. 
side  was  rebuilt  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  this  portion  with  the 
W.  side  is  that  which  now  exists. 
The  room  over  the  gateway  has 
a  door  communicating  with  the 
battlements  and  the  allure  round 
"I  j  _.    '      the   wall.      On    approaching   the 

'  ™  i-'Ji      castle  by  the  wooden    stair   j^ou 

""^      enter  first  the  chapel,  which  has 

- """  i  a    magnificent    W.  window,  and 

-;',:*'".  occupies  a  position  transverse  to 

}  '  the  hall,  and  across  the  end  of  it, 

'mi'    •'  I  being  two  storeys  in   height.     It 

is  of  the  time  of  Edward  111. 
A  very  full  account  of  this 
mansion  is  given  by  Parker, 
from  whose  second  \-ohmie  many 
of  these  details  are  taken.  In 
the  chapel  in  1459,  were  solem- 
nised tiie  marriages  of  John  Tal- 
OATEHOusE  bot,  SOU  and  heir  of  the  Earl  of 

Shrewsbury,  with  Katherine  Staf- 
ford, daughter  of  Humphrey,  first  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  also  that  of  Lord 
John,  liis  youngest  son,  afterwards  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  with  Constance,  daughter 
and  heiress  of  Sir  Henry  Green,  of  Drayton,  in  Northamptonshire. 

Leading  to  the  chapel  is  the  great  baronial  hall  with  the  dais  at  the  end,  and 
near  it  an  entrance  to  a  tower  having  octagonal  apartments  ;  from  the  hall,  too. 


-~- ilk  old  gates 
^^t  Slate,  mth  the 
Siaford  famiij,  j 

^'^  feces,  cffi. 

'  ""«>  sgaiiist  the 
'^y  hidings 
islarackforsol- 
foices;  they  were 
of  tanber  quarter- 


rt,fflicoi!ldiioto( 
wrtedtolastaslong 
ly.  Pan  of  the  X. 
ait  in  tie  seventeenth 
tins  portion  with  the 
'  .':« exists, 
,.ilciTav  has 

.  „^  widi  the 
indliieiiire  round 
On  approaching  the 
t  sooden  stair  you 
IK  clapel,  which  has 
at  W.  window,  and 
pstiontransveBeto 

- -'ic  ad  of  ii, 
.  .,:...  iitii;lit.  li 
ane  of  Edward  ill. 
g  aaonni  of  thb 
,  giwn  by  Parker, 
,,n,imhinieniaiiv 
,    _  :jl;t:i,  In 


01145*^ 


;  Inhn  T;il- 
-  :i!t  Eari  ul 


^.iiitriiit 


Sial- 


jDdalsot 


f  of  Lord 
daiigWfr 


% 


I 


I    ^ 


II 


f^\^h 


I 


L_ 


WARWICKSIIIRF.  36, 

clog  has  killed  the  finest  buck  in  England."  He  it  was  who  built  tlie  great 
castle  of  Thornbury,  Gloucestershire  ((/.:•.),  but  lived  not  to  complete  it.  Then 
the  greit  wealth  and  title-i  of  this  family  sank;  Maxstoke  fell  again  to  the 
Crown,  but  was  given  by  Henry  VI II.  to  Sir  William  Compton,  whose  son  sold 
the  estates,  after  which  they  came  by  purchase  to  the  family  of  iJiIke,  of  Kirkby 
Mallory,  in  the  possession  of  whose  descendants  Maxstoke  still  remain?..  It  is 
stated  that  during  the  Civil  War  in  February  1643,  cannon  planted  by  Lord 
Brooke  near  Coicsliiil  were  lircd  at  this  castle. 

RUGBY  {iiott-exisUul) 

C.ALLED  in  Domesday  Book  "  Kocheberie  "  (rue,  river,  and  by,  town).  There 
was  a  small  castle  here,  whose  earthw(jrks  may  yet  be  traced,  near  the 
church.  Dugdale  thinks  that  it  was  one  of  those  which  Steiihen,  fearing 
invasion  by  the  Empress  Maud,  permitted  every  one  of  his  nobles  to  build 
on  his  own  estate,  as  a  temporary  measure  only,  for  most  of  them  were  soon 
after  levelled. 


s'rr l)L^:^'  {non-cxisiaii) 

NEAR  the  junction  of  the  Airow  stream  with  the  Avon  was  a  castle  j>ossessed 
by  one  William  de  Corbucion  (temp.  William  I.),  and  "  he  or  his  descend- 
ants had  here  their  principall  seat,  as  by  the  ruins  thereof  is  evident."  (Dugdale.) 
They  had  lands  also  in  Berks  and  Staffordshire,  where  this  William  was  sheriff. 
His  grandson,  Feter,  founded  a  monastery  here,  and  no  more  is  heard  of  tlie 
castle;  but  in  the  reign  of  Henry  V'lll.  the  site  belonged  to  a  family  named 
Hunt. 


w 


WARWICK  (cJ.n/) 

'HEX,  after  the  death  of  Alfred  the  Great,  his  children,  Edward  the  Elder 
,  ,  and  Ethelfled,  the  Lady  of  Mercia,  took  the  lield  against  the  Danes, 
Etheltled's  first  care  was  the  protection  of  Mercia,  and  this  she  effected  tirst  by 
blocking  its  approaches  on  the  Watling  Street,  by  the  coinmandmg  forts  of 
Tamworth  and  Stafford,  and  next  by  occupying  a  strong  militar>-  jxisition  on  the 
Foss  Road,  the  great  Roman  way  which  extended  from  Lincoln  to  Hath.  To 
block  this  road  and  secure  Central  Mercia,  Ethellled  selected  a  settlement  of  the 
Wcerings,  on  a  little  rise  near  the  sluggish  .Avon,  where  she  forlilied  a  town  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  F"oss,  which  has  become  our  Wtvringawic,  or  Warwick.  Then 
between  town  and  river  she  caused  to  be  raised  one  of  those  great  mounds  which 
mark  the  defensive  warfare  of  that  time.  The  new  e.uthwork  would  Iv  sur- 
mounted with  a  stockade  and  wooden  blockliouse,  to  give  pl.ice,  after  the  lajisc  of 
VOL.  I.  ^  '' 


362 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


several  generations,  to  tlie  formidable  structure  of  stone  in  the  keep  of  Warwick 

Castle. 

Turkili,  a  Saxon  Thane,  was  lieutenant  of  the  Earls  of  Mercia,  and  after  the 
Conquest  was  directed  by  William  to  erect  or  strengthen  a  fortress  at  Warwick. 
Ordericus  Vitalis,  who  wrote  forty  to  fifty  years  only  after  the  Norman  invasion, 
says:  "In  consequence  of  these  commotions"  (the  risings  in  1068)  "the  King 
carefully  surveyed  the  most  inaccessible  points  in  the  country,  and  selecting 
suitable  spots,  fortified  them  against  the  enemy's  excursions.     In  the   English 

districts  there  were 
few  fortresses  which 
the  Normans  called 
castles,  so  that 
though  the  English 
were  warlike  and 
brave,  they  were 
little  able  to  make 
a  determined  resist- 
ance. One  castle 
the  King  built  at 
Warwick,  and  gave 
it  into  the  custody 
of  Henry,  son  of 
Roger  de  Beau- 
mont ; "  he  was 
created  Earl  of  War- 
wARwiCK  wick,     and    in    the 

time  of  Roger, 
second  earl,  this  castle  was  grown  to  be  a  notable  place  of  strength.  Roger 
died  1153. 

This  Norman  castle  seems  to  have  lasted  nearly  200  years,  and  was  destroyed 
by  the  adherents  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  issuing  from  Kenilworth.  To  quote 
Leland  :  "  The  magnificent  and  strong  castle  of  Warwick,  at  the  W.S.W.  end  of 
the  town,  hard  by  the  right  ripe  of  Avon,  is  set  upon  an  huge  rock  of  stone,  and 
hath  three  goodly  towers  on  the  E.  front  of  it.  There  is  a  fair  tower  on  the  N. 
side  of  it,  and  in  this  part  of  the  castle  King  Richard  III.  pulled  down  a  piece  of 
the  wall,  and  began  and  half  finished  a  mighty  tower  to  shoot  out  great  guns, 
which  reraaineth  unfinished  as  he  left  it.  The  dungeon,  now  in  ruins,  stands  in 
the  W.N.W.  part  of  the  castle."  The  rock,  on  which  a  part  of  the  fortress  stands, 
is  40  feet  above  the  river,  which  falls  in  a  cascade  below  the  windows  of  the  great 
Hall,  but  on  the  N.  the  castle  is  level  with  the  town.  "  The  entrance  to  the  castle 
is  by  a  gateway  between  Guy's  Tower  on  the  right  and  Caesar's  Tower  on  the  left, 
which  is  formed  of  three  circular  segments. "     Thus  far  Camden,  who  gives  no 


WAKWICKSIIIRF. 


363 


particulars  as  to  the  huildiiif^  of  tliis  noble  furtress,  though  he  enlarjjcs  con- 
siderably on  the  traditions  of  the  perhaps  apocryphal  fliiv,  Earl  of  Warwick,  and 
his  terrible  combats  and  encounters. 

In  Parker's  "  Domestic  Architecture  of  the  Middle  A>jes,"  to  whose  careful  and 
trustworthy  descriptions  and  explanations  ref»ardinj^  many  of  the  structures  j^ivcn 
in  these  paj^es  we  owe  much  valuable  information,  a  consideralile  space  is 
occupied  by  various  notices  of  Warwick  Castle,  and  some  instructive  plans  are 
given    ol    the   general   arrangements   of   the    fortress.     Warwick  is  an  excellent 


WAKWICK-XHE  HALL 


example,  in  lemarkablv  perfect  jireservation,  of  the  transition  period,  when  the 
dreary  prison-like  stronghold,  with  it>  seaiity  .iccommodation  clustered  within  the 
walls  of  the  bailey,  if  not  contained  within  the  defensible  building  itself,  was 
giving  place  to  a  more  domestic  type,  demanded  by  a  higher  state  of  civilis;ition 
and  relinement.  Externally  as  strong  as  ever,  with  embattled  and  machicolate<l 
walls  and  strong  ll.uikiiig  towers  wherever  necessary,  the  element  of  domestic 
comfort  was  being  introduced,  and  magnilicent  suites  of  apartments  and  offices 
were  now  constructed  under  the  main  roof,  "gr.idually  preparing,  as  it  were,  for 
the  time  when  the  wall  of  enceinte  would  be  dismissed  althogelher."  Ik-rkeley 
Castle  is  another  line  example  of  the  same  period  almost  equally  perfect. 

Warwick  was  built  jiartly  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but  \v.i->  ii..l 
linished  until  the  lifteenth  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  trace  any  part  of  the  castle  as 
erected  by  Turkill  for  William  the  Conqueror,  wliich,  again,  may  liave  stood  on 


3^4 


CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 


the  site  of  still  earlier  buildings.  It  seems  to  have  stood  nearly  200  years,  hut  in 
the  time  of  Henry  111.  (1256)  it  uas  besieged  and  taken,  and  a  great  part  of  it 
destroyed.     In  this  state  it  lay  until  the  time  of  Thomas   Beauchamp,  Earl  of 

Warwick,  who  died  in  1369,  and 
who  rebuilt  it.  To  this  period 
therefore,  must  be  referred  the 
Hall  and  the  whole  of  the 
earlier  portions  of  the  domestic 
buildings.  He  also  built  the 
magnificent  tower  known  as 
Cassar's  Tower,  and  probably 
the  gateway. 

His  son  Thomas  continued 
the  building,  and  erected  the 
multangular  tower  (N.E.), 
known  as  Guy's  Tower,  which 
he  completed  in  1394,  the  17 
Kichard  II.  In  the  reign  of 
Edward  IV'.,  George  Plantage- 
net,  Duke  of  Clarence,  resided 
here,  and  employed  himself  in 
making  additions  to  the  castle. 
It  is  probable  that  he  erected 
the  entrance  gateway  on  the  N. 
side,  the  loopholes  of  which 
appear  to  be  intended  for  artil- 
lery. He  had  other  works  in 
hand,  when  his  career  was  cut 
short  by  his  brother  in  1478. 

From  that  time  little  care 
seems  to  have  been  taken  with 
the  building,  imtil  James  I. 
granted  it  to  Sir  Fulke  Greville, 
who  found  it  in  a  ruinous  con- 
dition, the  principal  part  of  it 
being  used  as  a  county  gaol. 
He  expended  a  large  sum  in  repairs,  and  in  adding  to  both  the  E.  and  W. 
ends  of  the  main  building.  Since  then  various  alterations  and  additions  have 
been  made,  such  as  the  erection  of  a  dining-room  in  front  of  the  hall,  and  of 
some  offices  outside  the  barbican.  In  1871  there  wa^  a  serious  fire,  which 
burnt  part  of  the  private  apartments  of  the  castle,  when  a  number  of  the 
curiosities  and  works  of  art  were  destroyed. 


WARWICK 


WARWICKSHIRE 


365 


The  river  Avon  defends  tlic  S.  front  of  the  c;istle,  where  the  halMtahle  p;irt  of 
the  structure  is  situated,  forniinjj  one  side  of  a  paralleloj^rani,  wliereof  the 
reniaininj^  sides  are  composed  <jf  a  h)fty  and  stron;^  wall,  with  towers  at  the 
angles,  and  havinj^  defensible  j;;ateways,  with  llankinji  towers  in  the  curtains. 
The  two  nia}»nificent  and  lofty  towers  already  mentioned,  which  (lank  the  K.  wall, 
form  the  great  feature  of  the  place,  and  "give  an  air  of  grandeur  and  majesty  to 
the  castle  of  which  it  is  not  easy  to  convey  an  idea."  The  main  entnuice  is 
midwav  between  them,  (laiikcd  both  outside  and  in  with  octagonal  towers,  and 


WARWICK 


having  in  front  a  very  perfect  barbican,  remaining  almost  in  its  original  state,  the 
portcullis  of  which  is  still  lowered  and  drawn  up  every  night  and  morning.  The 
drawbridge  has  been  replaced  by  a  bridge  of  stone.  Turning  W.  from  Cluy's 
Tower,  the  wall  about  the  middle  of  the  N.  front  was  broken  aw;iy,  as  already 
mentioned,  by  Richard  III.,  and  here  was  formed  a  new  N.  entrance  gateway  in 
later  times,  the  wall  being  continued  in  a  far  feebler  section  to  the  \V.,  where  it 
meets  the  remains  of  the  ancient  keep,  spoken  of  before,  a  small  part  of  which 
remains,  much  mutilated  and  altered.  It  was  probably  of  the  same  form 
externally  and  the  same  date  as  Cesar's  Tower.  (Parker.)  Thence  from  the 
lofty  inouncl  ol  tin.-  keep,  Etheltled's  mound,  the  wall  runs  down  to  the  wiitcrgatc 
and  the  main  front  of  the  castle. 

The  domestic  buildings  are  on  two  main  floors  ;  the  basement,  containing  the 
kitchens  and  cellars,  bakehouse,  &c.,  the  whole  being  vaulted  and  groined  ;  and 


366  CASTLES  OF  ENGLAND 

the  principal  floor  having  the  great  hall,  with  the  modern  dining-room  in  front  of 
it,  communicating  on  the  E.  and  W.  with  the  State  apartments  and  bedrooms  ; 
and  the  chapel  on  the  N.W.  of  the  hall. 

The  first  Earl  Beauchamp  of  Warwick  figures  in  the  Welsh  wars  of  Edward  I.  ; 
he  died  1298,  and  it  was  his  son,  Guy,  who  fought  in  the  Scottish  war  undt-r 
Edward  II.,  and  who,  acting  with  the  Earls  of  Lancaster,  Hereford,  and  Arundel, 
caused  the  sudden  beheading  of  Edward's  frivolous  favourite.  Piers  Gaveston,  on 
Blacklow  Hill,  before  he  could  be  taken  into  Warwick  Castle  ;  he  died  1315. 
His  son,  Thomas,  served  in  the  French  wars  of  Edward  III.,  and  dying  of  the 
plague,  near  Calais,  in  1369,  was  succeeded  by  his  second  son,  Thomas,  who,  after 
serving  in  the  French  wars,  was  appointed  by  Edward  III.  to  several  offices  of  trust. 
Retiring  to  his  castle  of  Warwick,  this  earl  built  the  stately  Guy's  Tower  there.  He 
took  part  with  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  against  Richard  II.,  and  when  that  youthful 
King  had  disposed  of  his  uncle  at  Calais  {sec  Pleshy,  Essex),  Warwick  (who,  being 
confined  in  the  Tower,  seems  to  have  given  his  name  to  the  Beauchamp  Tower 
there),  narrowly  escaped  with  his  head,  on  account,  Hume  says,  of  his  submissive 
behaviour,  but  he  was  sentenced  to  perpetual  imprisonment  in  the  Isle  of  Man, 
and  his  castle  and  estates  were  forfeited  and  given  to  Thomas  Holland,  Earl  of 
Kent.  Restored  by  Henry  IV.,  he  died  1401,  when  his  son,  Richard,  succeeded, 
and  was  appointed  governor  to  King  Henry  \'l.  in  his  minority;  this  earl  died 
1439,  at  Rouen,  and  his  son,  Henrv,  who  succeeded  him,  dving  in  his  thirty-second 
year  without  issue,  his  title  and  estates  went  to  the  husband  of  his  sister,  Richard, 
Earl  of  Salisbury,  whose  sister  he  had  married.  Thus  the  King-maker,  Earl  of 
Warwick,  derived  his  title,  but  he  met  his  death  at  the  battle  of  Barnet  in  1471, 
and  his  grandson,  Edward,  was  beheaded  when  onlv  twcntv-four  years  of  age, 
by  Henry  VII.,  on  a  fictitious  pretence,  in  order  to  destroy  the  last  remaining  male 
of  the  line  of  Plantagenet.  Then  King  Henry  VIII.  created  Dudley  de  Lisle,  son 
of  the  Minister  of  Henry  \'II.  (who  was,  by  his  mother,  descended  from  Richard 
Beauchamp),  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  afterwards  Duke  of  Northumberland,  but  he 
was  beheaded  by  Queen  Mary  for  supporting  Lady  Jane  Grey,  his  daughter-in-law, 
and  his  son,  John,  who  took  up  the  title,  died  in  prison  in  1554.  Elizabeth  restored 
the  next  brother,  Ambrose,  to  the  title,  which  James  I.  afterwards  conferred  on 
Robert,  Lord  Rich  of  Leigh,  whose  grandson,  dying  s.p.  1673,  left  the  honour  of 
Warwick  to  his  nearest  kinsman  of  line,  Edward,  Earl  of  Warwick  and  Holland. 
He  died  in  1701,  and  in  his  family  the  title  became  extinct  in  1759,  when  it  was 
revived  in  the  person  of  Fulke  Greville,  Earl  Brooke,  created  Earl  of  Warwick, 
1 759)  i'l  whose  family  the  lands  and  castle  remain. 

In  the  Civil  War  the  castle  was  held  for  the  Parliament  by  Sir  Edward  Peyto, 
and  after  the  fall  of  Banbury  Lord  Northampton  marched  against  it  with  the  guns 
he  had  taken  at  that  place.  Twice  summoned,  Pe)^o  refused  to  surrender,  and  a 
battery  was  opened  by  Lord  Compton  on  the  town  side,  while  his  father  and  Lord 
Dunsmore  threw  up  one  in  the  park.     Peyto  floated  a  red  fiag  from  Guy's  Tower, 


WARWICKSHIRE  367 

;ind  the  sie^c  went  on  for  two  days  without  in.ikin;^  any  impression  011  the  walls. 
On  the  third  day  guns  were  opened  on  tlie  castle  from  the  tower  of  St.  Mar^-'s 
church,  but  were  dislodged  by  the  return  fire.  Then  drawing  lines  round  tlic 
fortress  the  besiegers  sought  to  starve  out  the  garrison,  when  Peyto  hung  out  a 
flag  with  the  device  of  a  Bible  and  a  winding  sheet,  showing  his  trust  in  the  f<jrmer, 
and  his  preparedness  for  the  latter.  At  last  it  was  decided  to  raise  the  siege,  the 
forces  being  wanted  elsewhere. 


ST.    BRIAVEL'S 


(Bloucestersbire 


BERKELEY  (chief) 

THIS  magnificent  fortress,  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  romantic 
structures  in  the  kingdom,  is  one  of  the  very  few  ancient  castles  which 
have  been  continuously  inhabited  from  early  times.  It  preserves 
externally  its  grand  medijeval  appearance,  and  if  internally  the 
requirements  of  modern  life  have  necessitated'  modifications  and  alterations  to  fit 
it  for  a  present-day  dwelling,  there  remains  still  enough  of  the  old  fabric  to 
satisfy  even  the  exacting  antiquary.  The  sombre  gloom  which  clings  and 
will  ever  attach  to  the  name  of  Berkeley  Castle,  is  solely  derived  from  the 
horror  which  was  perpetrated  somewhere  under  its  roof  on  the  hapless  King 
Edward  II.,  and  which  the  lapse  of  five  and  a  half  centuries  has  not  been  able 
to  dispel.  The  castle  stands  on  a  rising  ground  among  the  meadows  and 
woods,  commanding  delightful  views  of  the  country  and  of  the  Severn,  and  as 


GLOUCESTKRSHIKI 


y"J 


a   spcciiiKM   ol   a  liiii.-  baronial   fortress  can   scarcely   be    coin|Hlcti    with    in    our 
country. 

There  existed  liere  a  castle  in  the  rcij^n  ol  Willi  iin  I.,  as  the  manor  liotisc*  of 
one  of  the  larjjest  manors  in  Eiij^land,  owned  by  the  Berkeley  family,  who  derived 
from  a  knight  of  Danish  royal  bloocl,  named  Robert  Kit/Hardin;^ ;  his  second  vjn, 


liliRKKI.ES 


Manrice,  succeeded  him,  and  dying  1190,  was  followed  in  succession  by  sons  and 
brothers  in  the  same  family  for  many  fenerations.  Henry  II.  j^ranted  the  castle  and 
honour  of  Berkeley  to  Robert  FitzHarding,  \vlu)m  he  created  Baron  Berkeley,  and 
whose  son  married  the  daughter  of  Roger  de  Berkeley,  who  had  Iven  deprivttl  of 
lands  for  his  espousal  of  the  cause  of  Stephen.  Maurice,  grandson  of  this  Rolx-rt. 
was  the  first  who  resided  here  (temp.  Richard  Caur  de  Lion),  and  he  fortified  the 
castle  ;  his  son,  Robert  de  Berkeley,  joining  the  side  of  the  Barons,  King  .l«<hn 
seized  tin.'  castle,  but  hi^  brother  Thomas  obtained  its  restoration  in 
Maurice,  son  of  this  Thomas,  joined  Simon  de  Montfort,  Karl  of  U-iccster,  in  tin. 
Barons'  War,  and  again  the  estates  were  confiscated,  but  they  were  restored  by 
Edward  1.  to  his  son  Thomas,  who  had  fought  well  under  th.it  King  in  his  norlhcrn 
campaigns,  and  who  was  summoned  to  Parliament  .is  liaron  Berkeley  in  i  Jy5.  The 
vol..  I.  3  -^ 


37° 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


third  baron  was  entrusted  with  the  care  of  his  deposed  sovereign,  Edward  II., 
after  the  commission  rose  at  Kenilworth  {see  that  castle,  Warwickshire),  but  being 
thought  by  the  ruffians,  Mortimer  and  others,  who  designed  the  King's  death,  to 
be  too  kind  a  custodian  of  their  victim,  lie  was  made  to  give  over  his  charge, 
together  witii  his  castle  of  Berkeley,  wiiither  he  had  brought  the  unfortunate  King, 


Ca/e 


a    ^ 


BERKELEY 

A     [''ore  Building.  C     Edward  II.  Tower. 

B     Edward  II.  Dungeon.      D     Domestic  Apartments. 


E     Kitchen.       G     Offices. 

F     Buttery.       H     Oratory  and  Well. 


into  the  hands  of  John,  Lord  Maltravers,  and  Thomas  Gurney.  By  these  keepers, 
after  a  month's  residence  here,  Edward  was  cruelly  and  horribly  murdered  on  the 

22nd  of  September,  1327,  when 

'■  The  shrieks  of  death  through  Berkeley's  roofs  did  ring, 
Shrieks  of  an  agonising  King." 

Antl  we  lind  that  the  autliors  of  this  iniquitv,  Queen  Isabella  and  her  paramour, 
Mortimer,  actually  visited  this  castle  the  very  next  year.  In  the  Berkeley  MSS. 
(Fosbroke),  it  is  said  that  this  poor  foolish  King,  during  the  whole  time  of  his 
imprisonment,  "  did  nothing  but  lament  for  his  wife,  singing  love  songs  in  a  low 
voice,  and  grieving  that  she  would  neither  see  him,  nor  permit  his  son  or  any  of 
his  relatives  to  come  near  him.  The  Queen  was  afraid  that  the  Church  would 
compel  her  to  live  with  him  again,  and  therefore  urged  his  death."  His  keepers 
tried  at  first  to  poison  his  health,  by  filling  the  pit  below  his  chamber  with  putrid 
carcasses,  of   which    he   complained   once    bitterly   from   the   window    to   some 


GLOUCF.STl.RSHIKI-. 


371 


cirixiiters  at  work.  Herkcley  Castle  did  not  lij^iiic  diiiiii;,'  the  Wars  of  the  kost-s. 
Ricluird  III.  was  licrc  in  the  eleventh  year  of  his  reij^ii,  and  created  the  lirst  Vis- 
count Merkeley,  Earl  of  Nottinj^hani ;  but  in  spite  of  this,  he  espoused  the  cause  of 
Richmond,  and  fird  to  liini  on  his  landin;^  at  Milford  Haven  ;  lie  likewise,  in  order 
to  spite  his  heir,  made  over  his  castle  and  the  honour  of  Berkeley  to  Herirv  VII., 
who,  in  return,  on  his  accession,  made  his  supporter  Marquess  of  Berkeley 
but  took  care  to  retain  the  property,  which  remained  in  the  hands  uf  the  Crown 
for  si.\ty-one  years,  until  the  death  of  Edward  VI.,  when  Henry,  the  twelfth 
Ivord  Berkeley,  recovered  it. 
Queen   Elizabeth   visited  him  here  ^%--,«     ■> 

in  1572.  During  the  Civil  War  the 
castle  was  held  for  the  King,  and 
withstood  an  attack  by  siege  from 
the  Parliamentary  troops  under 
General  Massy.  Charles  himself 
was  there  in  August  1643.  In  1697 
the  fourteenth  lord  was  made  Earl 
of  Berkelev. 

In  iKio,  the  succession  was 
disputed  to  this  title,  and  the  ques- 
tion is  not  settled  to  this  dav. 
Admiral  Sir  Maurice  Fitzhaidinge 
Berkeley,  a  very  distinguished 
naval  commander,  who  succeeded 
to  the  estates,  was  created  Baron  Kitzhardinge  m  i.soi,  and  iierkeiey  contnnies 
in  the  possession  of  his  successor. 

In  Berkeley  Castle  the  buildings  are  of  several  periods.  The  Norman  shell 
keep,  the  most  ancient  part,  is  irregularly  circular  in  plan,  and  is  flanked  by  three 
semicircular  towers,  and  a  square  one  of  later  construction  ;  its  walls  are  massive 
and  high.  There  is  an  external  staircase  giving  access  to  the  keep,  and  over  it  a 
room  has  been  built  at  a  later  period  which  tradition  assigns  as  the  scene  of  the 
murder  of  Edward  II.  ;  Horace  Walpole  describes  it  as  "a  dismal  chamK-r  in  the 
square  tower,  almost  at  the  tf)p  of  the  house,  quite  detached,  and  to  l>e  approached 
only  by  a  kind  of  foot-bridge."  The  various  buildings  of  the  castle  are  contained 
within  the  outer  wall,  facing  the  keep  on  its  mound,  and  having  six  or  seven  angles 
and  faces.  Parker  says  "  the  whole  arrangement  of  the  domestic  buildings  is  st) 
good,  and  has  been  comparatively  so  little  disturbed,  that  though  mostly  of  a  cLile 
prior  to  the  lifteenth  century,  it  is  given  as  an  example  of  the  manner  in  which 
domestic  conveniences  were  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  a  castellated  ri-sidence 
where  security  had  been  the  primary  consideration."  The  gre.it  Hall  is  p. 
and  is  a  very  line  one  of  the  fourteenth  cenlurv.  The  kitchen  is  remarkable, 
hexagonal  in  shape    with    immense   lireplaces    between    the  windows,   and   two 


f.ATEHOUSE 


372  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

recesses  for  cooking  on  two  of  the  other  sides  ;  it  rises  to  the  full  height  of  the 
building,  with  a  heavy  timber  roof  added  by  Henry  VII.  The  bakehouse  and 
oven,  the  larders,  the  great  cellars  for  wine,  with  groined  roof  supported  by  pillars 
in  Norman  work,  are  all  extant  and  still  in  use,  the  wall  of  these  cellars  being  in 
places  13  feet  thick  where  the  outer  wall  has  been  buttressed.  Above  the  cellars 
are  two  beautiful  chapels  of  Decorated  period,  which  had  fallen  into  disuse  and 
perhaps  desecration  as  early  as  1364,  when  they  were  restored  under  Papal 
authority.     (Berkeley  MSS.) 

BEVERSTON  {minor) 

LIES  on  the  plateau  at  the  summit  of  the  Cotswolds,  ih  miles  from  Tetbury. 
The  manor  was  part  of  the  great  lordship  of  Berkeley,  which  was  taken  from 
Roger  de  Berkeley  by  Henry  I.  and  given  to  Robert  Fitzharding.  In  the  days 
of  the  Confessor  these  lands  had  been  seized  by  Earl  Godwin,  and  as  the  position 
of  Beverston  commanded  a  ford  over  the  river  at  Anst,  and  also  the  road  to 
Cirencester,  it  is  believed  that  a  fort  existed  here  in  very  remote  times. 

Maurice,  the  son  of  Robert  Fitzharding  "  Berkeley,"  had  a  son  Maurice  who 
took  part  against  King  John,  and  afterwards  incurred  the  displeasure  of  Henry  III., 
for  "  fortifying  his  castle  of  Beverston  without  a  licence,"  this  being  the  first  notice 
we  have  of  the  fortress.  In  1291  it  passed  by  a  daughter  of  Philip  de  Gourney 
to  John  ap  Adam,  but  was  sold  by  his  son,  with  the  manor,  to  Thomas,  third 
Lord  Berkeley.  According  to  Leland,  this  lord,  Thomas,  was  taken  prisoner  in 
tiie  French  wars,  but  afterwards  recovered  the  losses  he  suffered  in  ransom  by  the 
battle  of  Poictiers  (1354),  obtaining  much  spoil  by  the  ransom  of  French  prisoners; 
he  then  thoroughly  rebuilt  this  castle  of  Beverston,  "  a  pile  at  that  tyme  very 
preaty,"  and  said  to  have  been  his  favourite  residence. 

Beverston  continued  in  the  possession  of  the  Berkeleys  until  1597,  when  the 
Sir  John,  the  last  of  his  family,  having  gone  through  his  property,  sold  it  to  Sir 
John  Poyntz,  from  whom  it  came  by  purchase  shortly  after  to  Sir  Michael  Hicks, 
whose  family  kept  it  till  1842,  when  it  was  sold  to  Robert  Holford,  of  Weston  Birt, 
whose  son,  Captain  George  L.  Holford,  Equerry  to  H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
is  the  present  owner. 

Large  alterations  were  made,  and  additions,  in  Elizabethan  times,  and  after 
part  had  been  injured  by  fire,  a  farmhouse  was  formed  in  the  banqueting  hall, 
and  the  buildings  were  let  ;  this  house  also  was  burned  during  the  war  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  a  new  one  was  built,  to  be  burnt  in  its  turn,  in 
1691  ;  the  house  which  now  stands  there  being  erected  subsequently  to  this 
date. 

During  the  Parliamentary  war,  Beverston  held  one  of  the  King's  garrisons,  and 
a  bold  attempt  on  it  was  made  by  General  Massy,  who  endeavoured  to  blow  in 
the  great  door  of  the  gatehouse,  but  the  petard  failing,  the  assailants  were  driven 


GLOUCESTKRSniRK  373 

off.  In  1644  Miissy  aj^uiii  came  to  the  castle  witli  a  loicc  ol  liursc  and  foot,  in  the 
absence  of  its  captain,  Colonel  Oj^lethorpe,  and  the  place  was  surrendered  t«>  the 
Parliament. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Blunt,  rector  of  Beverston  in  1X77,  thus  describes  the  ruin  : 
"The  western  face  of  the  castle  still  remains;  a  lar;4e  square  tower,  34  feet  by 
30  feet,  at  the  S.  end  ;  a  smaller  one,  24  feet  square,  set  anj^ularly  at  the  N.  end, 
and  a  curtain  lietween  ;  the  whole  side  123  feet  lonj{.  The  j^reat  tower,  (x)  feet 
hijih,  consists  of  three  storeys  ;  the  lower  formed  an  entr\-  and  i;uard-room  ;  the 
ascent  hy  a  newel  staircase  in  an  octaj,'onal  turret  leads  to  a  larj^e  room,  33  feet  by 
25,  which  appears  to  have  been  made  into  a  chapel  early  in  the  lifteenth  century." 
There  is  an  interesting  account  of  the  place  in  Parker's  "  I3oinestic  Architecture," 
with  drawings  and  plans  of  the  tower  and  chapel,  and  of  other  parts,  and  Huck 
gives  an  engraving  showing  the  ruin  as  it  was  in  1732. 

It  is  a  picturesciue,  ivy-draped  relic  of  a  line  fourteenth  century  house, 
qnadrangul.ir  in  pi. 111,  and  having  once  had  towers  at  the  angles;  the  whole  is 
surrounded  by  a  moat  whose  waters  wash  the  foot  (jf  the  walls,  thougli  part  of  tlie 
ditch  has  been  tilled  in.  The  curtain,  N.  of  the  tower,  contains  a  line  gallery,  and 
below  the  S.  end  is  tlie  "  dismal  dungeon  "  for  prisoners,  the  entrance  to  which  is 
covered  by  a  trap-door.  In  1873  the  base  of  a  round  tower  was  discovered  in  the 
rectory  garden,  opposite  to  the  W.  face  of  the  great  tower,  and  37  feet  from  it, 
with  some  stones  which  seemed  to  belong  to  a  gateway  here.  This  must  have 
formed  part  of  an  outer  ward,  and  there  are  traces  bevond  the  present  tennis-lawn 
ot  tlie  outei'  moat  ot  tlic  cistk-,  which  shows  the  fortress  to  have  lu-en  on  a  larger 
scale  than  has  previously  been  supposed.  A  beautiful  Decorated  chapel  remains, 
with  an  oratory  on  the  upper  floor  ;  the  loftv  groined  roof  and  carvings  of  tlie 
former  being  particularly  good.  The  ruins  of  the  gatehouse  show  the  portcullis 
groove  in  the  inner  archway,  protected  by  two  lound  towers. 

1  UxM  M  I '  S  1'^  I  K  [ .  I )   {non -existent) 

THIS  manor  was  of  considerable  value,  and  was  held  by  Osborn  GifTard,  who 
was  rewarded  for  his  services  to  the  Conc|ueror  by  the  gift  of  twenty 
manors,  among  which  this  was  one  ;  his  family  remained  here  till  the  end  of  the 
reign  of  Edward  II.  One  of  these  Harons,  Elias  (litfard,  having  taken  part 
against  King  John,  all  his  lands  were  seized  by  that  violent  King,  but  Henry  III. 
restored  them.  His  son  John,  who  fought  valiantly  on  the  Barons'  side  and  was 
taken  prisoner  at  Lewes,  carried  oil  and  married  forcibly  .Maud,  the  widow  of 
William  Longepee,  and  daughter  and  heiress  of  Walter,  Lord  ClilTord,  and 
brought  her  to  this  castle,  evidently  against  her  will,  as  she  complained  to  the 
King,  when  Giffard  was  compelled  to  pay  300  marks,  {"200  {s<r  Cl.iKKORD, 
HliKiiKOKDSliiKii.)  Another  of  his  descendants,  John  Gilfartl,  Lord  of  Brnnp>lield, 
being  in  rebellion  against  Edward  II. and  the  iXspenccrs,  in  9  Edward  II.,  a  wnl 


374  CASTLES   OF    ENGLAND 

was  issued  and  soldiers  were  sent  for  tlie  destruction  of  this  castle,  but  the  work 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  carried  out,  though  Giffard  himself  was  attainted  and 
afterwards  hanged  at  Gloucester,  when  the  place  was  given  to  Hugh  Despencer 
the  younger  (15  Edward  11.).  Again,  at  his  forfeiture  it  went  to  John  Maltravers, 
(i  Edward  HI.),  as  a  reward  to  him  for  the  murder  of  Edward  II.,  but  this  villain 
being  soon  after  convicted  of  high  misdemeanour,  the  estate  was  seized  and  given 
to  the  Berkeleys.  Not  long  after,  however,  Edward  III.  granted  the  manor  and 
castle  to  his  third  son,  Lionel,  Duke  of  Clarence,  whose  daughter  and  heir, 
Philippa,  brought  them  in  marriage  to  Edmund  Mortimer,  Earl  of  March.  Their 
daughter  Anne  married  Richard,  Earl  of  Cambridge,  the  second  son  of  Edmund 
of  Langlev,  Duke  of  York,  and  fifth  son  of  Edward  III.,  whose  son  Richard,  Duke 
of  York  (killed  at  Wakefield)  was  the  father  of  Edward  IV.  Thus  this  castle 
devolved  upon  the  Crown,  and  bv  Henry  VIII.  it  was  settled  on  his  Queen 
Katherine. 

When  it  was  demolished,  and  how,  is  impossible  now  to  trace  ;  a  ditch 
covered  with  brushwood  alone  marks  its  situation  at  the  present  day,  at  a  site  close 
to  the  church  of  Brimpsfield. 

DURSLEY   {,ion-cxistent) 

THIS  manor,  with  its  castle,  belonged  to  Roger  de  Berkeley,  who  was  a  cousin 
of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  it  was  held  by  the  Berkeley  family  from 
the  days  of  the  Conqueror  to  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  In  9  Elizabeth  it  was 
purchased  by  Sir  Thomas  Estcourt,  in  whose  family  the  lands  still  remain. 
Camden  says  :  "  Dursley  had  a  castle  belonging  to  the  Berkeleys  and  the  WVkes, 
since  fell  into  decay  and  clene  taken  down  ;  "  it  had  a  deep  ditch  round  it, 
and  the  castle  was  constructed  of  a  light  porous  volcanic  tufa  stone.  Part  of  the 
materials  were  used  to  build  the  castle  of  Dodington.  The  site  is  still  called 
Castle  Field. 

GLOUCESTER   {iwn-existcnt) 

IN  very  early  times  there  was  a  castle  here.  Camden,  speaking  of  the  city  of 
Gloucester  and  its  defences,  says :  "In  the  south  stood  a  castle  of  hewn  stone, 
now  tor  the  most  part  decayed ;  it  was  built  by  the  Conqueror,  who  demolished 
sixteen  houses  to  make  room  for  it."  In  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  Roger,  son  of  Milo, 
Earl  of  Hereford,  was  constable  of  this  castle  ;  but,  on  his  taking  part  against  the 
King,  his  earldom  was  taken  from  him,  and  also  Gloucester  Castle.  From  the 
Liberate  Rolls  of  30  and  40  Henry  III.  the  castle  would  appear  to  have  been  a 
large  and  important  fortress,  having  a  turris,  or  square  keep,  with  an  inner  and  an 
outer  bailey  (ballium  or  court),  a  private  chapel  for  the  King  and  another  for  the 
Queen,  and  their  separate  apartments,  paved  with  tiles  ;  there  e.xist  the  orders  for 


GLOUCKSTKRSIIIKI-:  -5 

puttiii;,'  glass  into  tlic  windows  of  these-  rooms,  and  lor  moling  the  stairciM:  to  the 
entry  of  the  chamber  occupied  by  Prince  Edward,  the  Kuig's  son,  afterwards 
Edward  1.;  also  for  the  repairs  of  the  bridges  of  the  castle.  (Parker.)  Stukelcy, 
writing  in  1721,  says  :  "There  is  a  large  old  gatehouse  standing,  and  near  it  the 
castle,  with  a  very  high  artiiicial  mount  or  keep  nigh  the  river."  \o  drawings 
exist  to  show  what  the  buildings  of  this  castle  were,  but  in  Fosbroke's  time  (1K07) 
there  were  remains  of  the  deep  foss,  the  declivities  of  which  were  laid  out  in 
gardens. 

This  castle  of  Gloucester  has  been   entirely  destroyed   bv  the  uunucipality  ni 
order  to  make  room  for  a  county  gaol. 


HOLMES   (non-exislcHt) 

NE.AR  Tewkesbury.     Gough  says  that  this  castle,  which  belonged  to  the  Earls 
of  Gloucester,  was  in  his  time  "  now  almost  gone."     It  is  not  mentioned  by 
P'osbroke  or  by  Atkyns. 


ST.    BRl.WKL'S   (minor) 

A  NEARLY  perfect  house  of  the  early  thirteenth  century,  standing  on  an 
elevated  spot  over  the  river  Wye,  and  anciently  called  Hreulais.  Camden 
describes  it  as  surrounded  with  "  inaccessible  thickets,  more  than  half  ruined,  and 
remarkable  for  the  deatii  of  ^Ldlel,  youngest  son  of  Milo,  Earl  of  Hereford."  The 
castle  was  begun  in  the  reign  of  Henry  1.  by  the  said  Milo  Fit/AValter,  and  was, 
like  most  of  these  border  fortresses,  intended  to  curb  the  Welsh,  and  prevent  their 
incursions  on  the  marches.  Its  period  is  chiefly  Transition-Norman,  and  it  is  a 
fine  specimen  of  a  well  fortified  mansion  of  that  age.  Hut  little  of  its  histor)'  can 
be  gathered.  King  John  often  resorted  thither,  and  one  of  his  Queens  resided 
there  ;  but  whether  this  was  Hawisia,  the  divcjrced  one,  or  Isabella,  the  wife  of 
Count  de  la  ^Lu•che,  cannot  be  known.  Part  of  the  building  may  possibly  Ix-long 
to  that  reign,  as  indeed  to  that  King  are  ascribed  by  popul.ir  tradition  a  vast 
number  of  the  old  houses  in  England.  The  buildings  were  very  extensive  and 
appropriate  for  a  royal  residence — they  probably  covered  the  whole  space  within 
the  walls — in  later  days  turned  into  a  garden.  .\  royal  forest  in  the  vicinity  was 
attached  to  the  castle,  therefore  the  attraction  of  hunting  may  have  luought  Kuig 
John  there,  besides  Henrv  III.,  who  also  visiteil  St.  Hriavel's. 

This  Mahel  FitzWalter  was,  doubtless,  an  important  |K-rson  in  De.ui,  th.it  his 
manner  of  death  should  be  chronicled  thus.  Atkyns  s;iys  he  "was  cruel  and 
covetous,  and,  being  entertained  here  by  Walter  de  ClilTord,  and  a  lire  hapjx-ning 
in  the  castle,  a  stone  fell  from  an  high  tower  on  his  head,  and  killed  hnn  m  the 
place.  \  daughter  of  this  Mahel  was  married  to  Herbert,  who,  ni  right  of  his 
wife,  was  Lord  of  Dean,  and  progenitor  to  the  present  Herlnrrts,  Earls  of  Pembroke 


376  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

and  Montgomerv."  Among  the  governors  of  this  castle  was  Thomas  cle  Clare, 
brother  to  Gilbert,  the  Red  Earl  of  Gloucester  (see  Toxbkidge),  appointed  by 
Simon  de  Montfort,  after  the  defeat  of  Henry  III.  at  Lewes  in  1264. 

Edward  11.  made  Hugh  Despencer  the  elder  governor  of  St.  Briavel's  and  of 
Dean  Poorest  in  his  fifteenth  year.  Thomas,  Duke  of  Cornwall,  had  the  trust 
(14  Richard  II.),  and  Henry  V.  gave  it  to  his  third  son,  John,  Duke  of  Bedford. 
Richard  Nevill,  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  Anne,  his  wife,  were  seised  of  this 
castle  and  manor;  but  in  1608  the  lands  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Crown,  and  in 
1660  the  constableship  was  given  to  Henry,  Lord  Herbert  of  Raglan,  for  his  life. 
The  Duke  of  Beaufort  is  the  present  lord  of  the  manor. 

The  outer  walls  and  the  moat  are  perfect ;  the  circumference  of  the  castle,  of 
horseshoe  shape,  is  small,  and  the  exterior  of  the  outer  wall  does  not  seem  to  have 
ever  had  bastions,  such  as  most  castles  of  the  fourteenth  century  possess,  but  to 
have  had  the  whole  area  within  crammed  with  buildings.  The  principal  strength  was 
in  the  gatehouse,  as  at  Abergavenny  ;  it  had  two  powerful  square  flanking  towers, 
having  rounded  outer  angles,  three  storeys  each  in  height,  and  with  a  large  oblong 
tower  behind  them,  wherein  the  defence  was  concentrated  and  the  numbers  of  the 
defenders  were  economised.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  about  the 
castle  is  a  large  room,  somewhat  resembling  our  old  House  of  Lords  at  West- 
minster ;  but  before  this  part  of  the  castle  could  be  entered  there  were  the  two 
flanking  towers  to  be  carried,  as  well  as  the  large  one  beyond,  built  on  to  them, 
now  dilapidated  ;  and  then  there  was,  besides,  the  Keep,  which  fell  down  into  the 
moat,  late  in  the  last  century,  and  which  had  its  own  postern.  There  are  curious 
and  intricate  passages  and  staircases  contrived  in  the  walls  of  the  entrance  towers. 
The  great  Hall  has,  unfortunately,  been  destroyed,  but  the  solar,  or  lord's 
chamber,  at  the  upper  end,  remains,  and  was  some  time  ago  used  as  a  school- 
room ;  it  contains  a  fine  fireplace,  above  which  is  the  well-known  chimney,  with 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  chimney-tops  in  England.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  hall 
some  servants'  apartments  have  been  left,  connected  with  one  of  the  gatehouse 
towers,  which  is  nearly  perfect,  and  contains  some  small  chambers  of  this  period, 
each  having  its  own  fireplace  and  chimney.  The  habitable  part  of  the  castle  in 
Gough's  time  was  used  as  a  prison  for  offenders  and  debtors. 

The  N.W.  front  alone  remains  now  ;  the  other  portion  of  the  castle  had 
become  a  mass  of  ruins  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 

SUDELEY  (chief) 

STANDS  a  short  distance  to  the  S.E.  of  Winchcomb  ;  it  is  rulher  a  castellated 
mansion  than  a  baronial  fortress.  Leiand  gives  an  unusually  long  description 
of  it  :  "Boteler,  Lord  Sudeley,  made  this  castle  ti  fuiidaiiicntis,  and  when  it  was 
made  it  had  the  price  of  all  buildings  in  those  dayes.  The  Lord  Sudeley  that 
builded  the  castle  was  a  famous  man  of  warre  in  K.  Hen.  5  and  K.  Hen.  6  dayes 


GLOUCESTERSHIRE 


377 


and  was  an  aclmiiall  (as  I  have-  licarcl)  on  sea;  ulicreupon  it  was  supposed  and 
spoken,  that  it  was  partly  biiikled  i:v  spoliis  CaUoniin  ;  and  some  spcuke  of  a  towrc 
in  it,  called  I 'ut mare's  Tower,  that  it  should  be  made  of  a  ninsome  of  his.  One 
thinj^wasto  be  noted  in  this  castle,  that  part  of  the  windowes  of  it  were  jihwcd 
with  verall.  There  had  been  a  manor-place  at  Sudeley  l>efore  the  building  of  the 
castle,  and  the  phA  is  yet  scene  in  Sudeley  Parke  where  it  stoode.  K.  Ed.  4  I-kkc 
no  good  will  to  the  Lord  Sudeley,  as  a  man  suspected  to  be  at  heart  K.  Hen.  6  his 


SUDELEY 


man,  whereupon  by  complaints  he  was  attached,  and  iJoin^  up  to  I^ondon  he 
looked  from  the  hill  to  Sudeley,  and  sayd,  '  Sudeley  Castle,  thou  art  the  tni\1or 
not  I.'  .After  he  made  an  honest  declaration,  and  sold  his  castle  of  Sudeley  to  K. 
Ed.  4.  Afterwards  K.  Hen.  7  gave  this  castle  to  his  uncle  Jasjier,  Duke  of  ik-dford, 
or  permitted  him  to  have  the  use  of  it.  Now  it  goeth  to  mine,  more  pitlyc." 
"In  old  time,"  says  Camden,  "certain  noblemen  here  dwelt  desceiuk-d  from  a 
right  ancient  English  race,  to  wit  from  Corda,  King  Ethelred's  daughter,  whose 
son  Ralph,  Earl  of  Hereford,  begat  Harold,  Lord  of  Sudeley  (temp.  Will.  Conqr.); 
and  this  family  long  flourished  here,  having  their  dwelling  xs  stated  aliove,  until, 
VOL.   I.  ili 


378 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


•Silrcf  Manor  Mo 


the  male  issue  failing,  the  heiress  Joan  manied  William  Butler  of  the  family  of 
Wcui,  whose  giandson  Ralph,  being  Lord  Chamberlain  of  England,  was  created 
Baron  Sudeley  by  Henry  VI.,  and  built  this  castle." 

On  September  5,  1548,  Queen  Katherine  Parr  died  here  of  puerperal  fever 
following  the  birth  of  her  luckless  daughter,  and  she  was  cered  and  buried  in  a 
lovely  tomb  in  the  castle  chapel.  She  had  been  married  to  her  old  admirer, 
Thomas  Seymour,  the  Lord  Admiral,  immediately  on  the  death  of  Henry  VIII. 

(January  28,  1546- 
1547),  and  Seymour 
had  been  made  Lord 
Sudeley  by  his  nephew 
Edward  VI.,  with  the 
additional  gift  of  this 
splendid  castle  and 
manor ;  but  after  the 
admiral  had  been  be- 
headed by  his  brother 
the  Protector  Somerset 
(March  1549),  these 
were  conferred  upon 
William  Parr,  Marquis 
of  Northampton,  the 
brother  of  the  late 
Queen.  He,  however, 
lost  his  head  on  Tower 
Hill  in  1554,  after 
Wvatt's  insurrection  (scv  Allixgtox,  Kext),  when  this  castle  and  manor  were 
presented  bv  Queen  Mary,  for  services  rendered  to  her,  to  Sir  John  Brydges, 
whom  she  created  Baron  Chandos  of  Sudeley  {sec  Wilton,  Herefordshire). 
George,  the  sixth  Earl  Chandos,  was  the  last  of  his  family  by  whom  the  castle 
was  inhabited  ;  he  was  a  zealous  supporter  of  King  Charles,  and  under  him 
this  castle  became  a  Royalist  stronghold  ;  he  raised  and  led  into  the  field  at  his 
own  cost  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  leaving  a  garrison  at  Sudeley  under  Captain 
Brydges.  During  the  earl's  absence  Massy,  the  Governor  of  Gloucester, 
surprised  the  place  on  New  Year's  Day  1642,  arriving  with  300  foot  and  two 
guns  antl  dragoons  from  Cirencester.  He  at  once  opened  fire,  and  next  day 
prepared  to  storm  the  castle.  A  party  of  horse  having  possessed  themselves  of 
a  garden  close  to  the  walls,  set  fire  to  some  outbuildings  containing  hay  and 
straw,  and  under  cover  of  the  smoke  the  guns  were  brought  up  against  the 
weakest  part  of  the  buildings  ;  when,  as  the  castle  was  badly  provisioned  and 
ill-found  in  stores  and  ammunition,  the  garrison,  deeming  resistance  useless, 
called  a  parley  and  surrendered  the  place  on  terms  which,  as  usual,  were  not 


SUDELEV 


GLOUCESTERSHIRK  379 

observed  by  tlie  I ';iili:iineiitary  troops,  wlio  plimdeiecl  the  lioiise  and  dcseualcd 
the  cliapel,  breakiiij^  the  tomb  of  the  Oueeii. 

The  next  year  IvOrd  Cliandos  recovered  his  castle,  only  to  lose  it  ayain  in  1644, 
and  it  would  ajipear  that  owinj^  to  the  irreparaiile  daniajje  which  llic  finest  parts 
had  received  in  these  two  attacks,  the  buildinj^s  were  abandoned  to  ruin,  remain- 
in{i  desolate  for  nearly  two  centuries.  Lunl  Chandos  died  ni  1654  >./>.,  when  his 
second  wile  nianyin^  again  with  (leorj^e  Pitt,  ancestor  of  the  Rivers  family,  this 
castle  and  manor  came  into  then  iiands,  and  so  remained  till  Ijird  Rivers  in  1810 
sold  the  castle  and  sixty  acres  of  the  estate  to  the  Duke  of  Hucknigham,  who  in 
1837  sold  the  castle  to  Messrs.  J(jhn  and  William  Dent,  of  Worcester,  who  had 
previously  in  1830  bouj^ht  the  bulk  of  the  Sudeley  estates.  They  restored  a 
great  part  of  the  structure  with  admirable  taste,  and  preserved  the  old  fabric  witli 
much  care.  The  fust  N.  quadrangle  was  rebuilt,  at  a  large  outlav,  and  the  ruinous 
desecrated  cliapui  has  been  made  "a  most  exquisite  gem  of  ecclesiastical  archi- 
tecture." (Strickland.)  The  remainder  is  still  a  picturesque  and  interesting  ruin, 
probably  much  the  same  as  it  was  in  Leland's  days. 

In  1782,  the  body  of  Queen  Katharine  Parr  was  discovered,  and,  Ix-ing 
unearthed,  was  found  to  be  in  wonderful  preservation  under  the  broken  tomb  ; 
the  hair  of  the  Queen  was  sandy-red  in  colour,  and  the  coffin  mcnisured  5  feet 
9  inches  in  length.  The  remains  were  re-interred,  and  a  new  tomb,  made  after 
a  drawing  preserved  of  the  original  one,  was  erected  in  memory  of  our  first 
Protestant  Queen. 

A  writer  wlio  visited  the  ruins  in  1799  says  that  the  castle  "consists  of  a 
spacious  court,  surrounded  with  buildings  now  used  for  a  farmvard.  The  tower 
adjoining  to  the  gate  is  square  and  open  to  the  top  ;  the  other,  at  a  little  distance, 
is  round,  and  a  winding  staircase  runs  up  the  inside  ;  adjoining  is  the  stonework 
of  some  very  large  windows.  There  is  a  long  building,  called  the  Castle  Barn, 
the  gable  ends  of  which  and  the  walls  are  all  that  remain  standing.  The  keep 
is  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  castle  and  hits  no  roof  to  it."  Thi--  ua-  ;(•>  the  Dents 
found  it. 

One  tower,  of  the  fourteenth  century,  has  been  preserved  between  the  ruins  of 
the  hall,  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  the  present  ElizabethaTi  buildings.  The  walls 
of  the  chapel  remain  perfect.  There  are  two  spacious  quadrangles  lying  N.  and 
S.,  with  the  lofty  embattled  tower  on  the  W.  side,  and  the  banqueting  hall  with  an 
octagonal  tower  on  the  E.,  on  which  side  were  likewise  the  chapel  and  the  gardens. 
In  1850  the  old  pleasaunce  with  its  paths  and  fountains  was  iliscovere<l,  and  now 
forms  part  of  the  gardens. 

Roman  remains  have  lately  been  found  in  the  immediate  neighlH>urho(Kl. 


38o 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


THORNBURY   (mimr) 


IT    is   perhaps   a   moot    question    if   we  slioukl   include  among  the  castles   of 
England  a  structure  like  Thornburv,  where  the  military  element  is  obviously 
subservient  to  tlie  domestic  :  a  magnificent  mansion  designed  for  the  enjoyment 
of  life  with  all  the  refinements  attainable  in  the  early  decades  of  the  sixteenth 
century.     As  stated,  however,  by  Mr.  E.  A.  Freeman,  the  exterior  walls  are  clearly 
meant   for  defence,  though  the  defences  are   not  very  strong  ;  and  the  effect  is 
somewhat  that  of  a  house  built  within  a  castle,  whose  machicolated  walls  and 
evelets  rendered  it  capable  of  being  speedily  put  into  a  state  of  military  holding, 
which  certainly  cannot  be  said  equally  of  mansions  like  Cowdray  House.     Inside 
the   external  walls  stand  the  fayade  of  the  house   with   its  well-known    range  of 
superb  oriels  and  bay-windows.    The  front  is  unfinished,  but  it  has  been  carried  up 
a  sufficient  height  to  judge  of  the  general  effect  of  the  design.     A  noble  gateway  is 
in  the  centre  of  the  range,  containing  a  single  broad  arch  with  smaller  side  door- 
ways, while  on  either  side  are  reared  polygonal  towers  of  various  sizes,  each  end 
being  terminated  by  a  very  massive  one.     The  whole  of   this  facade,  with  its 
windows  and  chimneys,  is  said  to  be  unsurpassed  by  any  other  example  of  English 
domestic  architecture,  while  the  masonry  and  workmanship  are  most  perfect  and 
beautiful.     The  inscription  on  the  front  of  the  gatehouse  is  thus  given  by  Leland  : 
"^Tbis  gate  Imhs  brgon  in  tijc  ncvc  of  ouv  ILovti  (5oi(  1511,   Hjr  2   ncir  of  i\)t 
vcignc  of  llXmrn  IDcmij  tljc  FEIE.  by  mc  15liluaiti  Bufcc  of  i3ukbj.in9{jam,  2;dc  of 
ILjcvrfoitl,  ^tafovlJ,  anti  i^OVtftampton."     There  was  a  very  full  and  accurate  survey 
made  of   the    castle  in  the  reign  of   Elizabeth   (A.D.    1582),  printed  in   Leland's 
"Collectanea"  (vol.  ii.  p.  658),  and  another  description,  written  immediately  after 
the  duke's  execution,  has  been  recently  found  in  the  Public  Records,  and  is  given  at 
length  in  Parker's  "Domestic  Architecture"   (vol.  iii.  p.   264).     The  gardens  and 
ground  and  orchards  are  described,  with  the  singular  adjunct  of  a  long  gallery  or 
"  cloister,"  paved  with  brick,  surrounding  these  gardens,  and  leading  to  the  parish 
church  of  Thornbury,  outside  which  it  terminated  in  a  "fair  room  with  a  chimney 
and  a  window  into  the  said  church,  where  th6  duke   sometimes  used  to  hear 
service." 

Edward  Stafford,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  the  builder  of  this  beautiful  fabric,  was 
Ihe  son  of  Duke  Henry,  beheaded  by  Richard  III.,  in  1483,  and  was  fifth  in  descent 
from  Thomas,  sixth  and  youngest  son  of  Edward  III.  He  inherited  from  the 
Bohuns,  together  with  the  earldom  of  Hereford,  the  office  of  Lord  High  Constable 
of  England.  Having  allowed,  as  one  story  has  it,  some  expressions  to  escape  him 
relative  to  a  shadowy  claim  which  he  professed  to  have  to  the  Crown,  in  the  event 
of  there  being  no  heir  to  Henry  VIII.,  but  according  to  a  more  probable  version, 
being  a  victim  to  the  combined  malice  of  Wolsey  and  a  scoundrel  steward,  named 
Knevet,  whom  he  had  dismissed,  and  who  accused  him  falsely  of  a  design  against 
the  King's   life,  Buckingham  was  tried  at  Westminster,  found   guilty,  on   false 


GLOUCESTERSHIRE  381 

evidence,  of  high  treason,  and  beheaded  on  Tower  Hill,  in  1521.  The  lx.-f{innin^ 
of  Wolsey's  enmity  is  said  to  liave  been  thus:  It  ehanced  once  that  the  Duke  held 
a  basin  lor  the  King  to  wash  his  hands,  when,  Heniy  having  conipleletl  his 
abhitii 111,  tile  prelate  chpped  his  fingers  into  the  water.  This  was  mure  than  the 
proud  Duke  could  endure  of  the  butcher's  son,  and  he  flung  the  contents  of  the 
basin  over  the  red  shoes  of  the  Cardinal,  who,  much  incensed,  vowed  he  would 
"  stick  to  the  Duke's  skirts."  It  was  on  hearing  of  this  atrocious  muriler  that  the 
Emperor  Charles  \'.  exclaimed,  "  A  butcher's  dog  has  killed  the  finest  buck  in 
England."  The  oftice  of  Constable  was  never  after  revived.  When  this  attainder 
took  place,  the  works  at  Thornbury  were  stopped,  and  the  structure  has  never 
been  completed.  It  is  said  that  a  castle  existed  in  early  days  near  the  church  of 
Thornbury,  perhaps  a  Koyal  residence,  but  there  remain  no  traces  of  it. 

Ill  1X24  the  castle  and  manor  of  Thornbury  came  into  the  possession  ol 
Mr.  Harry  Howard,  father  of  the  present  owner,  Mr.  E.  Stafford  Howard,  who 
restored  the  buildings  and  much  impr(jved  the  property. 


IIAUTLKUURY  PALACE 


Morcestersbire 


E  LAI  LEY  (tion-cxistent) 

UNDER  the  N.  side  of  the  Biedon  hills,  on  the  S.W.  of  Evesham,  a 
strong  castle  was  erected  which  is  of  interest  as  having  been  the 
earliest  settlement  of  the  powerful  and  widespread  family  of  Beau- 
champ,  now  extinct.  It  was  founded  by  Robert  d'Abitot,  steward 
to  the  Conqueror,  who  bestowed  on  him  these  lands  and  their  lordship  ;  but  this 
Robert  being  disgraced,  his  brother,  Urso,  obtained  the  property,  which  passed,  as 
in  the  case  of  Holt,  by  his  daughter,  Emeline,  to  Walter  de  Beauchamp,  together 
witii  the  castle  of  Worcester,  after  the  decadence  of  which  latter  fortress  this 
castle  of  Elmley  became  the  chief  seat  of  the  barons  of  Beauchamp. 

Its  grandeur  continued  in  their  hands  until  the  fall  of  the  great  Earl  of 
Warwick  at  Barnet  Field,  when  this  stronghold  was  destroyed  so  effectually  that 
Leland  writes  regarding  it  :  "  Ther  stondeth  now  but  one  towre  and  that  partly 
broken,"  and  he  describes  seeing  carts  carrying  off  materials  from  the  ruin  for  the 
repair  of  Pershore  bridge. 

The  manor  was  bought,  m  1545,  by  Christopher  Savage,  one  of  the  esquires  of 
Henry  VIII.,  and  with  this  family  it  continued  till  1823,  when  it  became  the 
property  of  Colonel  Davies,  M.P.  for  Worcester,  and  is  now  the  seat  of  JMajor- 


WORCESTERSHIRH  383 

General  Davies.  One  of  the  Savaj^e  family,  Sir  John,  K.(i.,  liad  an  illeyiliinatc  Min, 
who  was  rector  of  Denhani,  in  Cheshire,  and  wlio  is  s.iid  to  have  licen  the  father 
of  Kdniund  Bonner,  the  bloodthirsty  bishop  of  Queen  Man,-;  he  is  aliej^ed  to  have 
caused  the  deaths  of  200  people  by  burninjj  in  three  years.  He  ended  his  days  in 
the  Marshalsea,  in  1569,  after  ten  years  of  imprisonment. 

The  site  of  the  castle  is  quite  traceable  in  the  park,  the  moat  lu-iiii'  ^liII  ixtf, .  i  • 
the  castle  hill  and  its  mounds  and  also  ditches  remain. 


HARTLKBURY  (r///>/) 

HKRI'2  was  the  ancient  castle  of  the  Bishop  of  Worcester,  which  disap|x-arcd 
in  the  seventeenth  century  ;  the  buildinj^  which  now  stands  on  its  site  was 
erected  by  Bishop  Houj^h,  who,  beiiifj  president  (jf  Maj,'dalen  Colle^^e,  O.xford,  in 
the  reign  of  James  II.,  was  evicted  in  order  U)  give  place  to  a  Catholic. 

The  manor  had  been  granted  to  the  See  of  Worcester  in  Sa.\(jn  times,  ;ls  far 
back  as  A.D.  850,  by  Burthed,  King  oi  Mercia,  and  iiere  tlie  bishops  had  a  fortified 
palace  as  their  country  residence,  which  still  exists  after  the  lapse  of  athous;intl  vears. 
In  1268  (52  Henry  III.)  Bishop  Godfrey  Gifford  obtained  .1  licence  to  embattle  his 
house  and  to  finish  his  castle  of  Hartlebury,  which  was  granted  to  him  and  his 
successors  in  perpetuuni,  June  8,  1268,  the  said  c;ustle  having  Ix-en  comnienced 
in  1255  by  Bishop  Walter  de  Cantilupe.  It  was  protected  by  a  moat,  and  w;ls 
built  sufficiently  strong  to  resist  any  marauding  attack,  but  no  more,  it  had  a 
gatehouse,  which  was  added  by  Bishop  Carpenter  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI. 

Little  is  recorded  in  history  concerning  this  stronghold  until  the  Civil  War  of 
Charles  I.,  when  it  was  held  in  force  for  the  King.  In  May  1O46,  the  Parlia- 
mentary troops,  under  Colonel  Morgan,  surrounded  Hartlebury,  the  Governor  Ix-ing 
a  Captain  Sandvs,  who  had  there  a  garrison  of  120  foot  soldiers  and  20  horse, 
with  provisions  for  twelve  months  ;  he  was  summoned  to  yield  the  cxstle,  and, 
strange  to  say,  surrendered  it  after  two  clays,  without  firing  a  shot,  a  large  company 
of  gentlemen  and  one  or  two  ladies  being  taken  in  it.  The  committee  in  I^mdon 
then  decided  to  have  the  castle  pulled  down,  and  they  sold  it,  |H'rha|is  for  this 
purpose,  to  Thomas  Westrowe  for  ^3133.  but  it  is  not  known  how  the  sentence 
was  carried  out,  or  to  what  extent. 

Bishop  Hough's  palace  is  a  quadrangular  building  with  a  large  hall  and  two 
wings,  one  of  wliicli  includes  the  chapel,  and  was  enclosed  by  strong  \v;Uls  and  a 
gatehouse,  and  surrounded  by  a  moat,  part  ui  which  is  now  nude  into  a  garden. 
The  building  stands  at  the  edge  of  the  ancient  park,  now  eighty-si.x  acre^  m  extent, 
overlooking  an   artificial   lake   in    front.      Oueeii    KlizalK-th   rested  at    H.irtlebiirx- 
for  a  nigiit,  and  George  III.  visited  Bishop  Hurd  here  on  one  oec;isi«)n. 
said,  indeed,  that  in  1803,  during  the  scare  which   was  occasioned  in  tir 
by  the  projected  invasion  of  the  Kmperor  N.ipoleon,  his  MajeMy  coiileui; 
moving  to  Hartlebury  with  the  Royal  Fanuly,  to  obtain  security  at  this  mland  |xdace. 


384  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Tlie  good  bisliops  of  old  were  great  patrons  of  the  chase,  and  Hartlehury  Park 
was  well  stocked  with  deer;  in  fact,  it  was  only  disparked  in  1841.  Bishop 
Whitgift  frequently  hunted  both  here  and  at  Lord  Cobham's,  in  Kent,  at  which 
place  he  killed  twenty  bucks  himself  during  one  visit,  "using  greyhounds  or  his 
bow  at  pleasure,  though  he  never  shot  well."  Reginald  Brian,  Bishop  of 
Worcester,  writes,  in  1350,  to  his  brother  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  who  had  promised 
him  six  couples  of  good  sporting  dogs,  that  his  "heart  languished  for  their  arrival." 
"  Let  them  come  [he  says]  O  reverend  father,  without  delay.  Let  my  woods 
re-echo  with  the  music  of  their  cry  and  the  cheerful  notes  of  the  horn,  and  let  the 
walls  of  my  palace  be  decorated  with  the  trophies  of  the  chase." 

HENLEY  (noH  -existent) 

THIS  place  gives  its  name  to  a  parish  lying  on  the  \V.  bank  of  the  Severn,  to 
the  S.E.  of  Great  Malvern.  The  lands  belonged  to  the  Beauchamps,  Earls 
of  Warwick,  who  resided  here  much,  and  then  descended  to  the  Clares,  Earls  of 
Glo'ster  {sec  Toxbridge),  and  came  next,  by  the  sister  of  the  last  earl,  Gilbert  de 
Clare,  to  her  husband,  Hugh  Despencer.  In  the  seventh  year  of  Henry  VI. 
Richard  Beauchamp  had  Henley  in  right  of  iiis  wife,  Isabel  le  Despencer,  and  from 
that  marriage  issued  Henry,  Duke  of  Warwick,  who  was  born  at  Henley  Castle  in 
1424,  and  died  there  ;  and  in  whose  person  the  great  family  of  Beauchamp  came 
to  an  end.  Henry  dying  s.p.,  his  possessions  passed  to  his  sister  Anne,  who  was 
married  to  Richard,  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  at  his  death,  at  Barnet,  all  was 
forfeited  to  the  Crown.  In  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  Henrv  VI II.,  the  lands  and 
castle  were  granted  to  Lord  Clinton,  who  sold  a  great  part.  Then,  in  1559,  Queen 
Elizabeth,  for  the  sum  of  £^S'^  95.  6J.,  granted  Henley  Castle  to  John  Horn- 
gold,  of  Standon,  Herts,  and  the  property  remaining  is  still  possessed  by  his 
descendant,  John  Vincent  Horngold,  of  Blackmore  Park. 

The  castle,  of  which  nothing  now  remains,  stood  near  the  river  Severn,  and 
was  a  large  square  building  with  a  turreted  tower  at  each  angle,  and  surrounded 
by  a  deep  moat  ;  there  was  a  keep  or  strong  tower  in  the  N.W.  corner.  Nothing 
is  known  as  to  the  founding  of  Henley  Castle,  which  was  destroyed  very  long  ago, 
and  a  farmhouse  Ituilt  upon  its  site.  Some  portions  of  the  moat  can  still  be 
recognised. 


HOLT  (jninor) 

OX  the  N.  of  Worcester,  half-way  between  that  city  and  Stourport,  on  the 
W.  bank  of  Severn  are  some  relics  of  a  castle  originally  built  in  Norman 
times.  The  lordship  anciently  belonged  to  Urso  d'Abitot,  whose  daughter,  Eme- 
line,  married  Walter-  de  Beauchamp,  of  Elmley,  the  holder  of  a  charter  from 
Henry  I.     His  son,  William,  by  marriage  with  Isabel,  daughter  of  William  Mandit, 


WORCESTKRSHIRH  385 

became  Earl  of  Warwick,  and  the  Heauchamps  of  Hnll  tlcsteii<li(i  imm  his  third 
son.  Sir  Jolin  Heaiichanip  (temp.  Richard  II.)  was  created  Haron  Ikaiichamp  of 
Kidderminster  (11  Richard  II.),  beiny  the  first  jwer  created  by  letters  p;ilent.  He 
was  attainted  and  executed  on  Tower  Hill  ni  ii  Richard  III.  and  his  son  dying 
s./>.,  the  lands  went  by  his  dauj^hter,  Mar^^aret,  to  the  I'ouiicefotes,  and  thence  to 
the  W'yshams  and  other  familio. 

In  the  reij^n  of  Elizabeth  Holt  iK-lonj^ed  to  Sir  John  liourn,  who,  in  1550,  built 
a  mansion  on  tlie  site  of  the  ancient  castle.  At  his  death  it  was  sold  to  Sir  Thom:is 
Hnjmley,  Knt.,  Lord  Chancellor  of  Enj^land,  in  1579,  wlmse  j^r.uidson,  Sir  Thoin;is, 
made  additions  to  the  buildin;^.  His  descendant.  Colonel  Henry  Hromley,  was  a 
zealous  Royalist  in  the  Civil  War,  and  is  sjiid  to  have  spent  ^^"30,000  (»n  the  cause  ; 
he  died  in  1652,  and  theref(»re  did  not  live  to  see  the  end  of  the  Coinmonwe;ilth 
which  had  ruined  him. 

The  lands  are  now  the  pro|X.Tty  ()f  Earl  Dudley,  and  the  cxstle  lx-loiij»s  to  Mr. 
James  Best.  A  dniwinj.;  in  Nash  shows  an  Eliz;ibethan  mansion  backed  by  an 
older  battlemented  tower,  and  some  remains  of  tlie  media-val  structure,  with  an 
embattled  wall,  are  incorporated  in  this  later  buildin;^. 

.\I  \l)R  K  S  K I  K  M)    cor  \<  r   (>ion.rx,sUHi) 

N1..\K  (ircat  -Malvern,  on  the  N.E.,  is  this  interesting;  Eliz:ibethan  mansion  : 
a  seat  of  Earl  Beauchamp.  Added  to  and  altered  of  ipiite  late  yKU-s  by 
the  fifth  earl,  it  was  built  upon  the  site  of  an  ancient  fortress,  said  by  Nash  to 
have  liel()n;,'ed  to  a  manor  orij^iiially  held  by  the  Abbot  of  Wotminster.  («uy  de 
Heauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick,  held  lands  here,  to  which  Thomas  de  Ik-auchamp 
succeeded  (23  Edward  III.).  The  very  ancient  family  of  Bracy,  settlinj^  in 
Worcestershire,  likewise  owned  this  manor,  and  Thomas  Ly^on,  manyinj^  Joan, 
the  heiress  of  Biacy,  in  7  Henry  V.,  who,  beinj,'  Lord  of  Warmedon,  succeeded 
the  Bracys.  The  present  lord  of  the  manor,  Earl  Beaiich.imp,  enjoys  Madrolield 
by  direct  descent  from  the  family  of  Bnicy. 

Nothing;  remains  of  the  old  castle  ;  the  e.\istin|;  buildiii);  is  only  a  moatwl 
mansion.  In  the  Civil  War  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Ly^ons  were  on  the 
side  of  the  Parliament,  and  were  disjxissessed  of  their  j^arrison  here  by  Kiny 
Charles,  who  appointed  a  Captain  Ashtoii  ;us  j^overnor.  Madrestield  held  out  for 
the  Kinj.;  until  after  the  surrender  of  O.xford  iiul  Worcester,  when  it  w;is  yielded 
upon  very  honourable  terms. 

Much  of  the  Elizabethan  building  remains,  with  the  moat,  drawbridge  and 
buttresses. 


vol..  I. 


386  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

WEOLEY  {minor) 

THIS  castle  lies  in  low i^rouiul  in  the  Northlielcl  district,  on  the  N.E.  side  of  the 
county.  The  lands  of  Northfield  were  held  at  tlie  time  of  Domesday  Survey 
by  William  F'itzAnscluf ;  his  daughter  and  heiress  married  Paganell,  whose  heiress 
again  brought  the  property  to  Somery,  and  this  baron  built  the  castle  of  Weoly  in 
the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  Afterwards,  Joan,  sister  of  John  de 
Somery,  who  was  the  wife  of  Thomas  de  Bottetort,  was,  in  the  twelfth  vear  of 
Edward  III.,  seised  of  these  lands  and  castle,  but  their  line  ended  in  1385,  and 
the  possessions  went  by  an  heiress  to  Sir  Hugh  Burnel  (9  Henry  V.),  from  whom 
they  passed,  in  4  Edward  IV.,  to  Sir  Maurice  Berkeley,  and  in  the  twenty-third  vear 
of  Henry  VIII.  (1531)  they  were  purchased  from  Edward,  Earl  of  Dudley,  by 
Thomas  Jervoise,  whose  family  held  the  place  until  the  present  century. 

Weoley  is  now  the  property  of  Mr.  J.  G.  Ledsam,  whose  mansion  stands  near 
the  site  of  the  old  castle,  the  moat  of  which  seems  to  have  enclosed  about  an  acre. 
It  was  not  a  strong  place,  having  no  keep-tower  and  being  commanded  by  several 
heights  ;  its  shape  seems  to  hav'e  been  a  quadrangle  built  round  a  central  court, 
and  it  was  surrounded  by  a  large  deep  moat,  supplied  by  a  brook  which  runs  on 
the  N.  side.     Little  remains  except  the  S.  wall,  and  the  site  is  now  a  garden. 


WORCESTER  (non-existent) 

A  CASTLE  was  erected  here  soon  after  the  Conquest,  of  which  Urso  d'Abitot, 
who,  with  his  brother  Robert  {see  Elmley),  had  accompanied  Duke 
William  from  Normandy,  was  appointed  constable  as  well  as  being  sheriff  of  the 
county  :  he  is  sometimes  called  "  de  Wirecestre."  This  Urso  extended  the  castle, 
which  perhaps  was  little  more  than  a  Norman  keep  on  the  original  Saxon  mound 
over  the  river  ;  and,  as  there  was  little  room  between  this  and  the  cathedral 
precincts,  he  encroached  upon  the  sacred  ground  with  the  new  buildings  and  his 
moat  of  defence,  which  cut  away  and  desecrated  part  of  the  cemetery  of  the 
monks,  so  greatly  to  their  disgust  and  disturbance  that  they  obtained  the  curses  of 
Aldred,  Archbishop  of  York,  against  him,  and  never  rested  till  in  later  times  they 
got  the  land  restored.  Roger,  the  son  of  Urso,  succeeded  his  father,  but  by  giving 
orders  for  the  execution  of  one  of  the  King's  officers  w^hen  in  a  passion,  he 
incurred  the  displeasure  of  Henry  I.,  and  had  to  fly  the  country.  Then  Walter  de 
Beauchamp,  who  had  married  Emeline,  the  daughter  of  Urso,  was  installed  in  the 
offices  of  d'Abitot,  as  well  as  in  his  possessions,  and  became  steward  to  the  King, 
custodian  of  this  castle  and  sheriff,  Elmley  Castle  being  his  chief  seat.  His  son 
William  was  made  Lord  High  Constable  of  England,  then  the  highest  post  in  the 
kingdom,  in  1139;  'le  adhered  to  the  cause  of  the  Empress  Maud,  and  so  incurred 
the  enmity  of  Stephen,  who  deprived  him  of  his  castle  and  holdings;  but  they  were 
restored  to  him  by  Henry  II.,  with  whom  he  lived  in  much  honour,  dying  in  11 70. 


WORCKSTERSHIRl-.  387 

The  graiulson  of  this  William,  Walter  cic  Ik-aucliaiDp,  \v;i,s  made  Governor 
of  Henley  Castle  ;  hut,  on  his  sitlin;;  with  tlie  Harons  in  their  rebellion,  Kujjj  John 
confiscated  his  land  here,  annexinj^  Worcester  Castle  to  tlie  Cn^wn,  and  ni  the 
first  year  of  the  next  reii^n  the  Rejjent  Pembroke  gave  a  charter  of  Henry  HI.  to 
the  monks,  by  which  the  outer  ward  of  tlie  castle  and  the  King's  houses  wm- 
given  to  them  f-"  'h--  cnlargem'"'  "f  Mieir  close  an»l  m  ii-,iifMii.,ii  ..1'  t|je  e.iiK 
rcjbbery. 

After  this  it  is  not  probable  tliat  any  governor  lived  in  the  f.Lstle,  ;is  tlie  area  of 
it  would  be  now  so  much  restricted,  there  Ix'ing  only  the  mam  foftress,  of  110 
great  extent,  with  the  keep  and  mount  left. 

This  castle  bore  much  stress  of  warfare  during  its  comp;«nitively  short  life  xi 
a  fortress.  In  io88,  Worcester  having  declared  for  the  Red  King,  Osliorn 
Fit/.Richard,  01  Scrope,  Roger  de  Lacy,  Ralph  de  Mortimer,  and  other  j^»werful 
barons  from  the  Welsh  marches  came  against  it  in  force;  the  town  and  c:Lstle  were 
held  for  the  King  by  Bishop  Wolfstan,  who  had  gathered  intcj  the  c;istle  the  chief 
families  and  their  properties,  with  himself.  The  enemy  <jvernin  the  town,  but, 
being  thus  scattered  and  much  bent  on  plunder,  were  tjvertaken  by  the  g^irrison 
and  routed. 

Ill  1 1 13  marauders  from  Wales  burnt  the  buildings  in  the  castle  vard  and  the 
cathedral.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War,  Walter  de  Beauchamp  sideti  with 
the  Kinpress  Maud,  but  not  till  she  had  taken  the  castle.  Florence  relates  that  her 
troops,  attacking  the  city  and  the  castle  on  the  S.  side,  were  repulsed,  but,  getting 
in  on  the  X.  side  of  the  city,  they  set  tire  to  it  in  several  places,  when  a  great  jxirt 
of  it  was  burnt  and  the  whole  plundered. 

William  de  Beauchamp  suffered  at  once  for  his  adherence  to  Maud,  for  Stephen 
removed  him  and  gi.inted  the  place  to  Waleran,  Earl  of  Mellent  ;  to  avenge 
which,  Robert,  the  great  Earl  of  Gloucester,  came  with  an  army  and  took  the  city, 
ravaging  the  whole  of  it. 

This  Earl  of  Mellent  afterwards  incurred  the  disple;isure  of  Stephen,  whose  son 
Eustace,  in  1149,  attacked  and  took  the  city  and  burnt  it  ;  but  when  he  ass.iulted 
the  castle  he  met  with  such  vigort)us  resistance  that  he  was  obliged  to  desist.  He 
raised  two  earthwoiks  against  the  castle,  or  "  Malvoisins,"  .is  they  were  calli*d  (jk-it 
Bamiu  l«ili),  but  the  garrison  destroyed  them.  Remains  of  these  forts  are  said 
in  Val.  Green's  History  to  be  then  still  trace.ible— one  on  Red  Hill,  near  Digley, 
very  close  to  the  castle,  on  the  S.W. ;  and  another  on  the  N.,  on  Henwick's  Hill, 
commanding  the  Welsh  ro.ul  from  Ludlow. 

At  Stephen's  death,  William  de  Beauchamp  was  restored  by  Henry  II. 

King  John  having  annexed  Worcester  Castle,  kept  his  Christmas  there  in  1214: 
but  111  I J 16,  when  the  city  declared  for  the  Dauphin,  Louis  Ranulph,  Earl  of 
Chester,  came  there  with  some  King's  troops,  and,  Inring  repulsed  on  the  N.  side, 
detached  a  p.uty  to  the  S.  i|U.iil' > .  \vli>'  bnik.  mln  llu  i.islii-  I>\  .1  Miipn-c.  .iiid 
through  it  took  the  town. 


388  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

In  1264,  Henry  III.  was  brought  prisoner  here  by  Simon  de  Alontfort  after  the 
battle  of  Lewes. 

The  guardianship  of  this  castle  pertained  to  the  shrievalty  of  the  county,  which 
was  made  hereditary  in  the  family  of  the  Earls  of  Warwick  till  the  death  of  Richard 
Nevili,  tlic  King-maker  (10  Edward  IV.),  when  this  office  was  suppressed.  The 
castle  was  used  as  a  prison  till  1814 — that  is,  the  small  part  of  it  remaining. 

Leland  writes  :  "  The  castle  stood  hard  on  the  S.  side  of  the  cathedral  church, 
almost  upon  Severn  ;  it  is  now  clean  down,  and  half  the  base  court  or  area  of  it  is 
now  within  the  wall  of  the  close  of  the  cathedral  church.  The  dungeon-hill  of 
the  castle  is  a  great  thing,  at  this  time  overgrown  with  brushwood.  This  castle 
fell  to  ruin  soon  after  the  Conquest,  and  half  the  ground  of  it  was  given  to 
augmenting  the  close  of  the  priory." 

The  outer  ward  occupied  what  is  now  known  as  the  College  Green,  and  the 
castle  mound  was  begun  to  be  levelled  in  1823,  but  the  destruction  was  not  com- 
pleted until  1848. 

The  castle  hill,  S.  of  the  precincts  wall  of  the  cathedral  and  close  to  the  river, 
marks  the  site  of  the  old  fortress,  the  line  of  whose  wall  can  be  traced  on  the  X. 
of  Castle  Street ;  its  buildings  stood  N.  also  of  this,  and  on  what  is  now 
College  Green,  the  entrance  to  which  is  through  a  fine  gatehouse,  called  Edgar's 
Tower,  from  statues  in  its  front  niches  said  to  represent  that  ancient  King  and  his 
two  Queens.  The  gateway,  of  which  a  drawing  is  given  by  Grose,  dated  1778,  is 
Pointed,  and  is  supported  by  two  octagonal  turrets,  battlemented  throughout,  and 
supported  in  rear  by  a  heavy  square  building ;  the  passage  is  finely  vaulted  and 
groined. 


Dt'bLEV 


Staffor^6birc 


ALTON    ( minor ) 

ALTON  lies  X.  of  Uttoxeter,  in  (he  picturesque  valley  of  the  Chuniet,  which 
flows  into  the  Dove  river  ;it  a  point  about  three  miles  S.W.  The  ruins 
of  the  ancient  castle,  which  is  called  Alveton-l^y-Krdeswick,  and  of 
which  there  are  but  scanty  remains,  stand  on  a  hij;li  clitt  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  valley  to  the  majjnificent  modern  mansion  or  castle  of  the 
Earl  t)f  Shrewsbury  and  Talbot,  called  Alton  Towers.  In  the  rei^n  of  Stephen,  or 
Henry  II.,  Alton,  or  Ah eton,  descended  to  an  heiress  Roesia,  who  married  Hertiam 
de  Verdon  (temp.  Kdward  II.)  ;  William  X'erdon  died  >./>.  male,  and  Ins  cLiiijihter 
Joan  married  Thomas,  Lord  Furnival.  He  held  Alton  in  the  |%trtitioii  of  his  lands 
(39  Edward  III.),  and  had  issue  Thomas  Furnival,  I^)rd  of  Hallamshire,  whose 
daughter  and  heiress  brouj^ht  Alton  to  her  husband,  Thom.is  Nevill,  I>>nl 
I'lii  nival,  second  brother  of  Ralph,  Earl  of  Westmorland  ;  the  ptd|HTty  aj^.iin 
passed  by  his  dauj^litir  .Maud  to  John  Talbot,  lirst  Earl  of  Shrewsbury'  {sec 
SUKKKIKI.D),  the  i;reat  leader  of  the  Eiij;lish  in  Knmce  early  in  the  tiftecnih 
century.  His  eij^ht  immediate  descendants  to  John,  tenth  earl,  were  all  EarN 
of  Shrewsbury  and  I^)rds  of  Alton,  but  in  the  Civil  War  of  th.it  centun-,  this 
castle,  which  commanded  the  junction  of  the  valley  of  the  Churnel  with  that  of 
Alton  Glen,  was  destroyed. 

The  superb  pile  built  op|x.-ni    i..   u    vn.is  Ih-huii  by  Ch.irlcs,  lifteeiith  Eail  of 
Shrewsbury,  and  his  nephew  and  succet>t>or,  Eail  John,  built  it  from  the  de»i^ns  of 


390  CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 

A.  Welby  Pugiii,  architect,  giving  it  the  name  of  Ahon  Towers.  He  died  in  1856, 
and  his  successor,  Earl  Bertram,  died  soon  after,  unmarried,  after  whom  tlie  kite 
Henry,  tliird  Baron  Talbot,  established  his  right  to  the  earldom  and  the 
lands. 

The  ruins  consist  now  merely  of  fragments  of  the  outer  walls  of  the  ancient 
castle  ;  they  are  of  considerable  thickness,  enclosing  a  small  court,  and  stand  upon 
a  natural  perpendicular  rock  over  the  river,  to  which  the  ground  descends  rapidly  ; 
below  is  a  small  mill.  The  remains  indicate  a  stately  and  strong  fortress.  In  the 
"  Description  of  England  and  Wales,"  vol.  viii.,  is  a  view  of  the  ruin  as  it  appeared 
in  1769. 

CAVERSWALL,    or    CARESWELL  (mmor) 

THIS  castle  stands  near  Cheadlc,  li  miles  N.  of  Blythe  Bridge  railway  station. 
In  3  Edward  1.  (1275)  William  de  Caverswell  had  a  licence  to  crenellate 
iiiciiisimi  siiinii,  which  is  probably  the  date  of  the  erection  of  the  original  castle. 
In  "  Magna  Britannia  "  it  is  said  that  (temp.  Richard  I.),  Thomas  de  Caverswall 
had  the  lands  here  ;  his  son  was  Sir  Richard,  Knight,  and  his  grandson,  Sir 
William,  built  "a  goodly  castle  in  this  place,  the  pools,  dams,  and  houses  of 
offices  being  all  masonry."  His  son  was  Richard  (temp.  Edward  111.),  and  his 
descendants  enjoyed  it  till  19  Edward  III.,  when  it  passed  to  the  Montgomerys, 
and  from  them  through  the  Giti'ards  and  Ports  to  the  family  of  Hastings,  Earls  of 
Huntingdon,  who  were  owners  in  the  seventeenth  century.  By  that  time  the  old 
fabric  must  have  become  ruinous,  and  it  was  sold  to  Matthew  Cradock,  son  of 
George  Cradock  of  Stafford,  a  wool  merchant  and  clerk  of  assize,  whose  ancestor, 
Erancis  Cradock,  was  returned  Member  of  Parliament  1585  ;  he  built  a  good 
house  upon  part  of  the  site  of  the  old  one.  Temp.  Charles  I.  in  1643  :  "  it  is 
ordered  that  Mrs.  Cradock  shall  have  towards  the  fortification  of  her  house 
at  Carswell,  liberty  to  take,  fell,  cut  downe  and  carry  away  any  timber  or 
other  materials,  from  any  papist,  delinquent,  or  malignant  whatsoever."  Thus 
assisted  in  the  cost  of  their  new  house  at  the  expense  of  their  neighbours,  the 
Cradocks  enjoyed  it  but  for  a  short  while,  since,  twelve  vears  later,  the  property 
passed  by  the  marriage  of  their  daughter  to  Sir  William  Jolliffe,  after  which 
it  came  to  Viscount  Vane.  In  1830,  it  belonged  to  the  Hon.  Booth  Grey, 
brother  of  Lord  Stamford,  by  whom  it  was  sold  to  Mr.  Brett,  banker,  of 
Stone,  and  was  then  formed  into  a  nunnerv  for  sixteen  sisters  and  their 
confessor. 

Leland  calls  it  "the  castell  or  prati  pile  of  Cauerwell."  In  Caverswall  Church 
is  the  founder's  tomb  with  the  inscription  "  Willielmus  de  Careswellis,"  and  these 
hexameters  : 

"  Castri  structor  eram,  domibus,  fossisque  cemento 
Vivis  dans  operani,  nunc  claudor  in  hoc  monumento." 


He  late 
lithe 


.'■  HltlOll. 

u'eiielhtc 


Ill 


-»2|B3 


Mrngs^ssmzsastm 


.  *j 


STAKFORDSHlKi;  393 

Iier  by  the  aid  of  a  brewer,  wlio  was  bribed  to  place  them  secretly  and  receive 
the  answers  through  a  hole  in  the  wall.  In  a  letter  which  she  wrote  to  him, 
July  27,  1586,  she  tells  him  that  lie  mij^ltt  intercept  her  as  slie  rmle  abroad 
for  recreation  in  tlie  fields  between  the  c;istle  and  StatTord.  On  the  discover)' 
of  the  plot,  which  was  announced  to  the  yiieeii  on  a  summer's  d;iv,  bv  Sir 
Thomas  (loryes,  as  she  was  ridin;^  out.  Sir  Edward  Aston,  Sir  Richard  lit(;ot, 
and  another  came,  and  haviiifj  committed  her  secretaries,  Naue  and  Curll,  into 
close  keepiiij,',  proceeded  to  brejik  o|x.ii  her  private  ie|>ositories,  and  sent  the 
contents  and  all  her  pa|xrs  to  London  under  seal.  On  SeplemlK-r  lo,  Mary 
was  removed  to  Kotherinjihay,  where,  after  the  mock  trial,  slie  \\"as  lx.headed, 
P'ebruary  8,  15X7.  As  Isabella,  the  "She  Wolf  of  France,"  returned  next  y«ar  to 
the  scene  of  her  husband's  murder  at  Berkeley,  so  Eli/.;iheth  p;iid  a  visit  to 
Chartley.  Two  lires,  tlie  lirsf  in  1781,  have  partially  destroyed  the  old 
timbered  mansion,  and  an  embroidered  bed,  the  work  of  the  yueeii  of  Scots, 
perished  there,  but  her  room  is  s;iid  to  be  still  in  existence,  liaving  esc;»ped 
both  the  fires.  The  old  edilice  was  built  round  a  court,  and  was  curiously 
made  of  wood,  the  sides  carved  and  the  walls  embattletl. 


CIIKSTKRTOX-LXUKR-LYXK,   .,k   l.V.MH  {,,on-rxistrt,t) 

TWO  mile-.  N.  of  Newcastle-under-Lyne,  previous  to  the  CoiKpiest,  tlierc 
seems  to  have  been  a  place  of  very  considerable  import.ince  in  S.1X011  tiiue-^, 
with  a  town  and  a  castle,  wliose  founder  is  not  kiU>wn,  thouj^h  its  existence 
is  undoubted.  It  was  conferred,  about  1180,  upon  Kanulph  de  Oernons,  Earl  of 
Chester,  who  may  have  reared  a  fortress  on  the  Saxon  site,  and  we  read  of  addi- 
tions bcinji  made  in  the  reij^n  of  John,  who  was  there  120(1,  by  timber  buildinj^s, 
and  a  wooden  palisade  surroundintJ  it.  The  Earls  of  Chester  used  the  place  as  an 
outpost  of  their  Palatine  possessions,  and  were  ;{overnors,  or  cust<Kles,  of  it,  it 
beiii}^  then  the  only  castle  in  the  county  X.  of  Stafford.  Heiir)-  111.  tiM)k  the 
castle  from  these  earls  and  ;,'ave  it,  later,  with  Lancaster  and  I'ickerinj^,  in  1267,  to 
his  second  son,  Edmund  "Crouch back,"  then  twenty-one  years  of  ajje,  whom  he 
created  Earl  of  Leicester  after  the  death  of  Simon  de  Montfort  at  Evesham.  This 
castle  then  went  to  decay,  for  Edmund,  afterwards  cre.ited  Earl  of  I^iiicxstcr, 
built  another,  within  two  miles  of  it,  which  he  c.illed  .New  Cxstle,  when  that 
at  Chesterton,  beinn  chiefly,  perhaps,  of  wood,  passed  away  altogether.  It  w-.is 
situated  on  the  E.  branch  of  the  Trent,  which  had  the  name  of  the  Lyme,  or 
Lyne  {sec  Nkwcastle-ixukk-Lvsk). 


vol..  I.  3D 


394 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 
DUDLEY  {chief) 


I  N  the  time  of  the  Confessor  this  lordship  was  enjoyed  by  Earl  Edwin,  who  being 
1  betrayed  and  slain  hi  a  rising  that  took  place  against  William  I.,  that  King 
gave  the  place  to  William  FitzAnsculf,  who  was  possessed  of  it  at  the  time  of 
the  Domesday  Survey ;  this  Norman  had  ninety-one  manors,  of  which  this  was 
one,  with  its  castle.  U  then  came,  perhaps  by  marriage,  to  the  Paganels,  and  in 
1 138  Ralph  Paganel  held  the  fortress  for  the  Empress  Maud,  when  her  cousm 

and  enemy,  Stephen,  pro- 
ceeded    to     attack     the 
castle.      His    son,    Ger- 
vase,   succeeded,    but    in 
20    Henry   II.  he   joined 
young       Prince      Henry 
against   his    father,    who 
caused  Dudley  Castle  to 
be   demolished  in   1175. 
Gervase  made  his  peace 
by    a    payment    of    500 
marks  (.^"333  65.  81/.,  or, 
at      Hallam's      estimate, 
£8325    of    our    money), 
and    in     1189     attended 
King    Richard    1.    at    his 
coronation  ;    he    married 
Isabel,     daughter     of 
Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester, 
the  widow  of  Simon  de 
St.  Liz,  Earl  of  Northamp- 
ton.    His  sister  and  heiress,  Hawise,  brought  Dudley  and  other  lands  to  John  de 
Somery,  whose  son,  Ralph,  succeeded  and  died  1 2  John  ;  his  son  was  William  Per- 
cival  de  Somery,  who  had  it  till  6  Henry  III.,  when  his  uncle,  Roger  de  Somery, 
obtained  his  property,  and  48  Henry  III.  (1264)  received  a  licence  to  crenellate  the 
house  of  his  manor  of  Duddeley,  and  he  accordingly  erected  what  are  now  the  older 
portions  of  the  present  structure  upon  the  site  of  the  tirst  castle.     He  fought  on 
the  King's  side  at  Lewes,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  that  fight,  and  after  his  death 
(i  Edward  I.),  his  two  sons  succeeded  each  other  at  Dudley,  the  second,  John  de 
Somery,  dying  in  1321,  when  his  daughter,  Margaret,  obtained  a  division  of  the 
property,  and  brought  the  castle  and  town  of  Dudley  to  her  husband,  John  de 
Sutton  (of  Sutton-on-Trent),  who  died  33  Edward  III.     His  grandson,  Sir  John 
Sutton,  was   a  good  soldier  and  a  statesman   of  high  reputation,  who  became 
Baron  of  Dudley,  and  was  called  to  Parliament  28  Henry  VI.     He  was  a  firm 


DUDLEY 


1  Gatehouse  and  Main  Entrance. 

2  Stables. 

3  Keep. 

4  Well. 

5  Sally  Tort. 

6  North  Gate. 

8  Octagon  Tower. 


9  Scullery. 
10  Kitchen. 
12  Justice  Hall. 
14  Great  Hall. 
15,  16  Ante-rooms. 
17,18, 19  Apartments  over  Vaults. 
20  Chapel  and  Vault. 


STAr-KORnSIIIRF 


395 


supporter  of  the  Lancaster  cause,  and  (ouj<ht  at  the  first  hattic  of  St.  Albans ;  he 
was  also  wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  tl)e  hattle  of  Blorehi-alh  ;  hut  it  may 
be  assumed  tlial  Sahsbury's  position,  after  that  action,  did  not  allow  his  using 
severities  aj^ainst  those  who  fell  into  his  haiuLs ;  and  liesides,  the  lurKirons 
treatment  of  prisoners  was  not  adopted  until  after  the  battle  of  Wakefield  in  the 
next  year.  I^Jid  Dudley,  who  had  been  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  in  1455  H'.iston 
Letters),  and  who  pieviouslv,  in  1450,  hatl  been  placed  m  Ludlow  Castle  bv  K'rIi  -m!, 


Duke  of  York,  was,  after  the  accession  of  Edward  IV.,  reconciled  to  tlie  Yorkist 
party,  and  j^ave  no  more  assistance  to  the  Red  Rose.  He  had  three  sons,  of  whom 
the  second,  John,  succeeded  as  second  Haron  Dudley,  from  whom  tlie  later  Earls 
of  Warwick  and  Leicester  derived  their  descent.  In  the  time  of  Henry  VII.,  John, 
I>oici  Dudley,  became  a  prey  to  the  machinations  of  his  schemin>{  namesake,  John, 
Viscount  Lisle,  afterwards  created  Duke  of  \orthumlH.Tland,  who  was  tlie  swn  of 
Flduuind  Dudlev,  the  unpopular  Minister  of  Henry  VII.,  ands.ud  to  Ik"  the  s»»n  of  a 
Dudley  carpenter.  This  duke  man.i){ed  to  involve  I>ird  Dudley  in  overwhchninj^ 
debt,  and  by  that  means  succeeded  in  ousting  him  from  his  |v>ssessions,  and  turning 
him  out  penniless,  after  which  Dudley  lived  u|H)n  the  charity  of  his  friends,  iK-ing 
called  by  the  name  of  I^nd  OiHindam.  After  the  .ittaindei  and  execution,  however, 
of  Northumberl.uid,  who  had  procl.umexl  his  son's  wife,  I-idy  Jane  Grey,  .us  yucx-n, 
Queen   Mary  restored  the  estates   to  the  family,  which  enjoyetl  Ihein  till   i6j|. 


396  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

when  the  last  male  heir,  Ferdinando,  died  in  the  lifetime  of  his  father,  who  married 
his  granddaughter,  Frances,  to  Humble  Ward,  the  son  and  heir  of  William  Ward, 
goldsmith  and  jeweller  to  Queen  Henrietta  Maria.  He  was  created  Baron  Ward, 
and  their  descendants,  as  Lords  Dudley  and  W^ard,  have  continued  there  till  the 
present  time.     In  i860  the  title  was  made  into  an  earldom. 

Erdeswick,  the  old  historian  of  Staffordshire  (died  1603)  says  that  Dudley  Castle 
is  "  mounted  loftily  on  a  high  mountain,  and  hath  a  large  prospect  into  Derby* 
Leicester,  Warwick,  Worcester,  and  Shropshire,  and  a  great  part  of  Wales,  and  is 
itself  in  Staffordshire,  over  all  of  which  it  looketh.  It  is  a  goodly  built  house,  of 
an  ancient  building  and  large,  with  great  trenches  about  it,  hewn  out  of  a  hard 
rock,  and  a  fair  chief  tower  within  it  on  the  S.  side."  The  view  from  this  ruined 
keep  on  a  clear  day  is  one,  perhaps,  unequalled  in  this  country.  The  keep  is  the 
earliest  part,  being,  perhaps,  the  work  of  Roger  de  Somery  in  1264,  though 
Hartshorne  gives  it  to  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  before  the  castle  was  taken  from 
the  de  Someris  by  Despencer.  It  is  an  oblong  building  at  the  S.W.  angle  of  the 
castle,  with  round  corner  turrets,  standing  on  a  mound,  and  is  entered  through  a 
low  pointed  gateway  in  the  centre  of  the  N.  side  ;  two  of  the  turrets,  those  nearest 
the  town,  with  much  of  the  wall,  were  demolished  in  1650.  Below  the  keep  are 
extensive  vaults,  used  probably  for  prisons.  The  gatehouse  is  in  a  ruinous  state, 
but  was  at  one  time  of  great  strength,  the  walls  being  9  feet  thick,  defended  by  a 
moat  and  drawbridge,  and  with  two  circular  flanking  towers,  the  lower  parts  of 
which  remain,  together  with  the  outer  arch  of  the  barbican.  In  Parker's 
"  Domestic  Architecture,"  all  this  work  is  put  down  to  John  de  Sutton,  early  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  HI.  The  principal  building  is  an  extensive  mansion,  part  of 
which  is  of  the  fourteenth  and  part  of  the  sixteenth  centuries,  and  the  walls  are 
tolerably  perfect.  The  vault  under  the  chapel  is  thought  to  belong  to  the  earlier 
manor-house,  and  would  in  that  case  be  the  oldest  surviving  portion.  The  chapel 
has  five  pointed  windows,  and  between  it  and  the  hall  are  three  rooms,  the  largest, 
perhaps,  being  the  lord's  chamber,  attached  to  the  upper  end  of  the  hall.  This 
stately  fabric,  called  the  New  Work,  was  built  either  by  the  Duke  of  Northumber- 
land, or  by  Sir  Edward  Sutton  on  getting  back  the  property.  It  consists  of  the 
great  hall;  and  the  rest  of  the  house,  rebuilt  upon  the  old  walls  andvauhed  cellars, 
is  in  Elizabethan  style,  including  the  buildings  between  the  hall  and  the  N.  gate- 
way, and  the  beautiful  octagon  staircase  tower.  There  was  an  entrance  in  the 
middle  for  horsemen  to  ride  up  an  inclined  plane  from  the  courtyard,  and  a  back 
door  at  the  lower  end,  with  another  inclined  plane  and  passage,  for  the  horses  to 
be  led  down  again.  There  is  a  deep  moat  and  a  large  outer  bailey,  with  a  round 
tower  at  one  corner. 

Queen  Elizabeth  visited  Lord  and  Lady  Dudley  here  in  1575,  and  ten  years 
after  she  sent  Sir  Amyas  Paulett  there  to  see  if  Dudley  would  suit  as  a  prison  for 
her  captive,  the  Queen  of  Scots,  who  was  then  at  Tutbury.  His  letter  to  the 
Queen  says  that  he  found  the  castle  in  an  unfurnished  and  deserted  state,  for  the 


STAF'FORDSHIKl 


397 


owners  had  forsaken  it  tu  live  at  Muiiley,  al>uitt  twu  miles  distant,  and  this  oistlc 
was  therefore  not  kept  in  j»ood  order. 

in  1644  Dudley  was  iiesiej^ed  for  tijree  wt-eb.  by  tlie  Parhanicnlary  troops,  and 
was  gallantly  defended  for  tlie  King  by  Colonel  Heauniont,  till  relieved  by  forces 
sent  from  Worcester  under  Lord  Wilmot.  It  was  <jne  of  the  LlsI  fortresses  that 
held  out  for  Charles,  and  did  so  till  May  10,  1^)46,  when  Colonel  I^vison  had 
to  surrender  it  to  Sir  William  Hrereton,  the  Parliamentary  (jeneral,  and  the  next 
year  it  was  "  slighted,"  by  order  of  the  council,  and  greatly  destroyed;  a  part, 
however,  was  habitable,  and  here  in  1750  a  gang  of  false  coiners  took  up  their 
quarters,  who  in  some  way  set  lire  to  and  destroyed  the  building,  and  it  has 
never  been  restored. 

The  castle  covered  an  acre  of  ground,  and  was  surrounded  by  an  outer  wall, 
flanked  with  towers,  of  Late  Perpendicular  style. 

KlLLKSIIALL   (ininor) 

THIS  manor  at  the  l)oiiu>day  Survey  belonged  to  the  bishop,  and  it  h.is 
generally  been  Church  property.  In  1200  King  John  granted  a  licence  to 
Bishop  Muschamp  to  make  a  park  at  Hrewode,  and  to  embattle  the  castle,  or 
manor  house,  of  Eccleshall.  This  original  structure  \\-ls  greatly  added  to  by 
Walter  de  I^ington,  Hi^hop  of  Lichlield,  and  Lord  High  Treasurer  to  Kdward  I.  ; 
he  pulled  down,  it  is  chronicled,  the  old  building  and  reconstructed  it  in  nio; 
but  the  Bishops  of  Lichfield  being  the  owners,  besides  this  palace  and  Coventr\", 
of  the  palaces  of  Heywode,  Brewodc  and  Beaudescrt,  with  Lichfield  House  also 
in  the  Strand  in  London,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  resided  much  at  Kccleshall, 
until  the  renewal  of  the  S.  front  in  1695.  In  1459,  during  the  Civil  War,  when 
Queen  Margaret  took  her  hiishand  Henry  VI.  northward  to  prevent  the  junction 
of  the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  coming  from  Yorkshire,  with  the  Duke  of  York  in  the 
W.,  the  Lancastrian  army  was  stationed  at  Eccleshall,  where  the  Hoval  partv 
stayed,  and  whence  they  marched  their  troops  to  meet  Salisburv  at  Bloie  Heath 
(September  23),  only  to  suffer  serious  reverse.  Eccleshall  was  held  for  the  King 
during  the  Civil  War  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  was  licsieged  in  1(145-1646 
by  Roundhead  forces,  who  battered  and  damaged  it  so  seriouslv  that  it  w;is  not 
habitable  at  the  Restoration,  and  a  "stout  stone-built  farmhouse"  w;us  crecte<! 
out  of  the  ruins.  This  mischief  was  done  under  the  ccmmiand  «>f  Sir  William 
Brercton,  Bart.,  who  was  appointed  the  Parliamentary  Genenil  for  Cheshire, 
Stafford  and  Linci>lnshire  in  1644,  when  he  reduced  many  fortresses.  After 
the  Restoration,  Bishop  Lloyd,  succeeding  Bishop  Wood  in  i'x>2,  renewed 
the  whole  S.  front  of  the  building,  after  which  restonition  it  ix-came  the  con- 
stant residence  of  the  Bishops.  It  is  now  the  pro|H-rlv  and  residence  • 
Mrs.  Dunn. 

One  of  the  towers  of  the  old  fabric,  covered  with  ivy,  and  a  bridge,  are  the 


398  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

sole  remains,  at  the  present  day,  of  this  once  fine  fortress  of  the  church  ;  the  moat 
has  been  turned  into  a  garden. 

It  is  stated  tliat  the  town  of  Eccleshali  occupies  the  site  of  a  Roman  station, 
which  afterwards  became  a  flourishing  place  in  the  Mercian  kingdom. 

N E WC AST LE-U N D E R-LYN E   (non-existent) 

EDMUND  "CROUCHBACK,"  the  second  son  of  Henry  111.,  built  the  castle 
here  to  take  the  place  of  the  old  one  at  Chesterton,  two  miles  N.,  which, 
being  partly  or  chieflv  built  of  wood,  had  fallen  into  decay,  and  was  not,  perhaps, 
worth  repairing ;  and  hence  this  one  received  the  name  of  the  Newcastle.  It 
stood  on  a  small  island,  about  two  acres  in  extent,  surrounded  by  a  large  pool, 
formed  by  damming  up  a  rivulet  supplying  the  mills.  From  the  old  description  of 
it  <'iven  by  Twamleyand  others,  this  castle  must  have  been  a  large  and  magnificent 
one,  being  added  to  and  raised  to  its  grandest  state  by  Edmund's  son,  Thomas 
Plantagenet,  the  great  castle-builder,  whom  Edward  II.  lu-headed  without  proper 
trial  at  Pontefract.  His  forfeiture  was  reversed  by  Edward  III.,  on  account  of 
this  earl  not  having  been  tried  by  his  peers,  and  the  title  and  estates  were  restored 
(1327)  to  his  brother  Henry,  w-ho  thus  obtained  Tutbury,  Pontefract,  Newcastle, 
and  other  castles  and  possessions.  His  son  Henry,  created  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
died  1 361,  leaving  two  daughters,  of  whom  the  younger,  Blanche,  married  John 
of  Gaunt,  King  Edward's  fourth  son,  and  brought  him,  on  her  sister's  death,  the 
whole  of  the  vast  Lancaster  possessions,  together  with  the  Dukedom  of  Lancaster. 
His  second  wife,  Constance,  eldest  daughter  of  Don  Pedro,  King  of  Castile  and 
Leon,  who  had  just  laid  claim  fruitlessly  to  those  kingdoms,  coming  to  England, 
chose  Tutbury,  also  in  Staffordshire,  as  her  abode,  and  kept  her  Court  there  with 
great  splendour,  in  preference  to  Newcastle,  which  fortress  was  neglected,  and  fell 
into  decay  and  ruin  in  the  fifteenth  centurv.  There  is  no  mention  of  this  fortress 
during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  ;  but  in  1485  it  is  said  that  the  Lord  Stanley  halted 
there  with  his  Cheshire  troops  when  on  his  way  to  join  Richmond  before 
Bosworth  Field  :  the  castle  was  dilapidated  then,  and  must  have  fallen  into  rapid 
ruin,  since  Leland  (cir.  1530)  records  that  "all  this  castle  is  down,  save  one  great 
towre," — which  was  the  stone  keep.  Camden  tells  us  he  saw  ruins  and  shattered 
walls,  and  Erdeswick  perceived  that  "  the  walls  have  been  of  wonderful  strength 
and  thickness "  ;  there  were  few  traces  of  them,  however,  in  Dr.  Plot's  time 
(1680). 

There  is  an  old  account  of  Newcastle  given  by  Twamley,  which  was  written 
in  1602,  and  is  recounted  in  1610  as  the  tale  which  "men's  grandames  doe  say 
that  their  grandames  did  delight  to  tell  us  what  it  had  been."  "  The  castle,"  it 
was  said,  "was  150  paces  from  N.  to  S.,  and  near  200  from  E.  to  \V. ;  it  had  2 
transepts  and  4  bays,  with  a  donjon  tower  20  paces  square,  2  storeys  in  height, 
and  70  feet  high.     A  low  portal  and  a  not  well-lighted  passage  admitted  to  the 


STAl'KORDSHIRE  399 

liall,  very  liirj^c  ;iiul  sp.Kioii.i,  with  ;i  lolty  roof,  painted  with  devices,  .1  ;;allen.' 
for  thu  minstrels,  ;ind  tlic  w;ills  were  clothed  with  j^ear  (jf  warfare,  helmets,  ojats 
of  mail,  armour,  buff  jerkins,  like  shirts  and  like  douhlets.  W'cndinj^  a  j»looiny 
staircase  led  to  the  State  rooms  and  bed-chamher  of  the  Prince,  and  on  tlie  upper 
for  company.  The  N.  drawbridj^e  i<A\f  into  the  court,  </)  paces  in  lenj^h  and  30 
wide ;  those  on  the  S.  and  \V.  were  less ;  outer  wails  30  feet  hi^h.  Tlie 
whole  was  more  fytt  as  a  statelie,  comfortable  dwellinj^e,  tlian  as  a  fortress 
of  defence,  cause  of  the  rising  lands  S.  and  K.  It  almost  now  is  all 
carryed  away,  and  Measter  Sneyde  doth  hold  the  ground,  and  the  mote,  and 
the  mills. " 


S  T  .\  F  F  O  R  I)   {non-exisUnt) 

IN  addition  to  the  nioiuid,  or  earth-castle,  which  Etheltled,  the  l^itly  of  Mercia, 
raised  at  Tamworth,  in  order  to  command  the  Wallinj^  Street,  she  reared  als<j 
a  second  mound  where  this  road  passes  between  the  heij^hts  of  Cannock  Chase 
and  the  channel  of  the  Trent,  across  which  neck  ran  the  small  stream  of  the  Sow 
on  its  way  to  the  j^reater  river.  "The  road  crossed  this  stream  at  a  stone  ford,  or 
paved  point  of  passaj^e,  and  in  j^uardinfj  this  point  by  the  fortress  which  has  grown 
into  our  Stafford,  Kthcltk-d  nf)t  only  blocked  all  access  to  the  upper  Trent,  but 
occupied  what,  in  the  physical  state  of  England  at  the  time,  was  the  most  im- 
portant strategical  point  in  Middle  Britain.  This  importance  w:is  recognised  by 
the  two  successive  castles  which  the  Conqueror  built  here — one  in  the  town  itself, 
and  the  other  on  a  more  distant  height."  This  is  what  Professor  Freeman  says  ; 
but  it  is  not  certain  that  William  I.  founded  the  baronial  castle  as  well  as  the 
King's  castle  in  the  town  ;  indeed,  it  is  unlikely  that  he  built  two  castles  within 
a  mile  or  so  of  each  other. 

The  site  of  the  King's  Castle  erected  by  the  Conqueror  was  near  the  X.  gate  of 
the  town,  and  close  to  the  new  bridge  over  the  Sow  and  the  King's  Pool  (originally 
the  ponds  for  the  Royal  fisheries)  ;  this  gate  was  probably  at  the  extremity  of  the 
fortress,  which  extended  from  thence  towards  the  windmill,  and  here  existed  this 
old  inscription  :  "The  old  Castle  built  by  P2dward  I.  the  Elder  and  in  memorie 
fortielied  with  reel  walls."  The  keep,  or  donjon,  was,  of  course,  placed  upon 
EtheHled's  mound  or  burh. 

Even  in  the  Domesday  Survey  this  c;istle  is  spoken  of  ;is  destroyed,  but  it 
must  have  been  speedily  rebuilt,  since  in  1102  its  garrison  of  200  men,  with 
William  Pantulf,  the  governor,  is  mentioned  in  behalf  of  Henry  I.  In  the  twelfth 
century  it  became  a  prison  for  the  King's  enemies,  and  as  long  as  it  lasted  it  seems 
to  have  been  thus  appropriated.  Nothing  whatever  remains  of  this  castle  at  the 
jiresent  day. 

The  other  fortress,  the  Baronial  Castle,  stood  on  the  .N.  side  of  the  Newport 
road,  i^   miles  from  Stafford,  upon  an  insulated  mound,  and  ser\-ed  anciently, 


400  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

in  some  form  or  other,  as  the  cdpiit  banviia-  until  the  time  when  its  owner  was 
able  to  build  a  stone  castle. 

The  Conqueror  gave  the  manor  to  Robert  de  Couches,  or  Tonei,  the  son  of 
Roger  de  Tonei,  the  hereditary  standard-bearer  in  Normandy,  and  a  kinsman  of 
his.     From  Robert  it  descended  to  his  grandson  of  the  same  name,  the  last  of  the 
de  Toneis,  who  left  a  sister  named  Millicent,  married  in  1 194  to  Hervey  Bagot, 
to  whom  she  brought  the  manor,  and  who,  on  payment  of  300  marks  (equal  to 
about  ;^5500  of  our  money),  was  allowed  to  enjoy  the  lands,  and  became  Baron 
de  Stadford,  or  Stafford,  a  name  which  his  wife's  brother  had  before  assumed. 
His   descendant,   Ralph    de  StatTord,  was  a  warrior  of   repute   in  the  reign   of 
Edward   III.,  and  had  a  command  at  Crei;y ;    he  was  raised  eventually  to  the 
dignity  of   Earl  of  Stafford,  and  was  one  of  the  founders   of   the   most   noble 
Order  of   the   Garter.      Like  many  another   successful    soldier,  he   acquired   in 
the  French  wars,  bv  ransoms  and  by  plunder,  considerable  riches,  with  which 
he  was  enabled  to  build   himself  a  suitable  dwelling  ;  and  hence  we  find  from 
the    Patent  Rolls  of    22  Edward  II.  (1348)    that    Radulphus,    Baro  de    Stafford, 
obtained   that   year   a   licence   to  crenellate  his  two  "manses"  of  Stafford   and 
Madeley,  the  former  being  the  castle  in  question.     The   family  rose  in  import- 
ance and  state  thereafter,  so  that  Ralph's  grandson  Edmund,  Earl  of  Stafford, 
was  thought  worthy  to  marry  Anne   Plantagenet,  the  daughter   of   Thomas  of 
Woodstock,  and  the   King's  granddaughter,  who  was  also  heir  to  her  mother 
Eleanor,  the  daughter  and  co-heir  of   Humphrey  de  Bohun,  the  great  Earl  of 
Hereford,  and  who  shared  in  his  vast  possessions,  Eleanor's  sister,  Mary,  being 
the   wife   of     Henry   of    Bolingbroke,   afterwards    King    Henry    IV.     This    Earl 
Edmund  fought  on  his  uncle  King   Henry's  side  at  the  battle  of  Shrewsbury, 
where  he  commanded  the  van  and  was  killed,  being  the  first  of  five  successive 
heads   of    that    family,    father   and     st)n,    who    died    violent    deaths.      His    son, 
Humphrey,  married  to  the  daughter  of  Ralph  Neville,  first  Earl  of  Westmorland, 
was  created  Duke  of  Buckingham  by  Henry  VI.,  with  precedence  of  all  peers  of 
the  realm  after  the  blood,  on  account  of  his  royal  descent.     He  was  one  of  the 
gallant  nobles  who,  at  the  end  of  the  battle  of  Northampton,  were  found  strewn 
in  death  around  the  King's  tent :  his  son  Humphrey,  Earl  of  Stafford,  had  died 
of  his  wounds  five  years  previously,  after  the  first  battle  of  St.  Albans,  fought 
on  May  23,  1455.     His  grandson,  Henrv,  second  Duke  of  Buckingham,  joining 
the  rebellion  against  Richard   III.,  was  hunted  down  by  him,  and  beheaded  in 
a  summary  way,  in  1483,  at  Salisbury,  where  his  remains  were  found  in  1838.    He 
sought  refuge  at  Maxstoke,  his  castle  in  Warwickshire  {q.v.),  and  was  beti^ayed  by 
his  man  Banister,  who,  applying  to  Richard  for  the  promised  reward  of  ;^'iooo, 
was  refused  by  the  King,  who  said  that  "  he  who  could  be  untrue  to  so  good  a 
master,   would  be   false  to  all  others."     His  son,    Edward  Stafford,   third   duke 
and   the  last,  was    beheaded  by   Henry    VIII.,    after  standing    highest    in    that 
tyrant's   favour,   head,   as   he   was,   of    the    nobles    of    his   day.      He   was   the 


STAFFORDSHIKl-  401 

builder  oi   Thornbury   Castle,   Gluucestershirc   (which   sec   fur   further   accuuiit 
of  him). 

Stafford  Ciustle  \v;us  garrisoned  for  Charles  1.  in  the  Civil  War,  and,  being  taken 
by  the  Parliamentary  forces,  \v;is  demolished  in  1644.  Hut  the  tirst  attempt  failed, 
and  there  is  a  letter  from  Cleneral  lirereton,  written  to  l^ndon,  detaihng  the  refus;d 
to  deliver  up  the  castle  which  Lady  Stafford  (who  seems  to  have  been  there  alone) 
made  t<j  the  summons  to  surrender.  He  writes:  "The  ould  L;idy  had  Ix-taken 
herself  to  the  castle,  renKJVed  her  family,  and  some  s;iv  her  gnods.  Wee  made  as 
large  our  forces  as  possible  to  induce  my  Lady  to  adnutte  miujc  of  our  men  to 
secure  the  c:istle.  We  spent  much  time  in  this  traitie,  but  it  u'us  \'aiii  and 
fruitless."  At  the  second  attempt,  liowever,  with  superior  forces,  they  succeeded, 
and  the  castle  was  surrendered.  A  drawing  made  in  tlie  In-ginning  of  the  present 
century  shows  nothing  then  standing  of  the  castle  except  the  S.  wall  and  .1  dome- 
sha|x-d  mass  of  ruins  on  the  mound.  A  few  years  previously  it  had  been 
discovered  by  some  workmen  that  all  the  b;isement  of  the  castle  was  buried  under 
the  ruins  of  the  upper  parts,  and  the  owner,  Sir  William  Jerningham,  c~iusc-d  the 
whole  to  be  excavated  .md  cleared  of  rubbish,  so  that  the  plan  of  the  old  fabric 
could  be  seen  ;  liis  son.  Sir  George  Jerningham,  who,  in  1825,  w;ls  restored  to  the 
barony  (jf  Stafford  (1621),  undertook  to  rebuild  the  c;istle  on  its  old  founddions, 
and  in  1817  had  completed  a  front  of  the  structure  with  its  two  flanking  towers  ; 
but  the  work  was  then  susjx-nded,  and  nothing  more  ha-s  Ixren  done.  The  old 
design  shows  an  oblong  rectangular  frame,  in  ver)'  massive  masonr)*,  dividi*d  into 
three  apartments  by  two  cross  walls,  and  having  at  each  corner  a  huge  octagtjnal 
tower,  connected  with  the  end  apartments  by  openings  in  the  walls,  and  a 
garderobe  in  two  of  the  corners.  In  the  centre  of  one  front  is  another  tower  m 
the  form  of  a  half-octagon. 

STOURTON  (mmor) 

TllKRK  was  a  ford  by  which  an  ancient  road  crossed  the  river  Stour  at 
this  point,  a  little  W.  of  Stourbridge  ;  and  here  a  c;Lstle  was  erected 
probably  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  fortilied  post  placed  on  the  conlines  of 
the  forest.  In  the  time  of  Edward  IV.,  John  Hampton  was  lord  of  Stourton 
and  its  castle  ;  he  died  in  1471,  as  his  tomb  in  Kinver  Church  shows,  but  nothmg 
is   known  as   to   the  founder  of  this  fortress,   and    but    little    of    its   su!  ' 

history.  Camden  says  that  Cardinal  Keginald  Pole  \v".i.s  bt)rn  here  in  15' 
the  son  of  Sir  Richard  Pole,  K.G.,  Lord  Montague,  by  L;»dy  Margaret  Plantagenel, 
daughter  of  George,  the  "  fleeting,"  Duke  of  Clarence,  who  w-.is  Countess  of 
Salisbun,-  in  her  own  right  ;  Cardinal  Pole  died  1558.  He  w;is  twice  elected  to 
the  P.ipal  chair,  but  refused  the  honour  of  the  elev.ition.  Returning  to 
England,  during  the  reign  of  Mary,  he  al^solved  the  kingdom  from  the  mierdid 
under  which  it  had  l^ecn  placed  on  account  of  Hcnr>'  Vlll.'s  a|»slacy.  In  tlic 
VOL.   I.  3  K 


^02  CASTLES   OK   ENGLAND 

reign  of  Edward  \'I.,  Stourton  was  held  by  tlic  family  of  Whorwood,  which 
owned  the  place  during  the  Civil  War  :  it  was  surrendered  to  the  King's  forces  in 
1044.  Then  in  1653  it  was  purchased  from  the  Whorwoods  hy  the  Foleys,  of 
Prestwood,  and  it  now  belongs  to  Mr.  H.  J.  W.  Hodgetts  Foley. 

A  modern  residence,  embodying  some  small  portions  of  the  fifteenth-century 
mansion,  stands  liere  now. 

There  are  drawings  of  Stourton  in  Shaw's  "Staffordshire,"  and  of  the  back  of 
the  house  in  West's  "Views  of  vStaffordshire,"  in  which  is  shown  a  rectangular 
oblong  block  of  buildings  upon  an  eminence  above  the  Stour,  surrounded  by  a 
high  buttressed  wall,  which  encloses  a  mound.  At  the  back  of  the  mansion  rises 
a  sort  of  tower,  included  in  the  periphery  of  the  walls,  perhaps  a  part  of 
the  old  castle  ;  the  rest  is  the  later  work,  in  red  brick,  having  lofty  gables  at 
each  end. 

TAMWORTH    {minor) 

THIS  castle  occupies  the  lofty  mound  reared  in  the  beginning  of  the  tenth 
century,  by  Ethelfled,  Lady  of  Mercia,  the  worthy  daughter  of  the  Great 
Alfred,  when,  on  her  father's  death,  she  sought  to  protect  the  approaches  to  Mercia 
before,  together  with  her  brother  Edward  the  Elder,  girding  at  the  Danes  in  the 
Five  Boroughs.  With  this  intent,  she  seized  the  line  of  the  Watling  Street,  the 
great  Roman  road  from  London  to  the  N.W.,  and  erected  at  two  points  com- 
manding this  highway  two  fortresses,  known  afterwards  as  those  of  Tamworth 
and  Stafford.  The  first  was  at  the  point  at  which  a  later  branch  of  the  Watling 
Street  struck  off  direct  to  Chester  ;  and  here,  where  some  rising  ground,  amid  the 
swampy  lands  near  the  junction  of  the  Anker  with  the  Tame,  gave  promise  of 
foothold,  Ethelfled  caused  to  be  thrown  up  a  vast  earthen  mound,  which  was 
crowned,  of  course,  by  the  usual  Saxon  fort  of  wood,  with  its  stockade  and  shelters, 
to  be  succeeded  in  after  times  by  more  permanent  constructions.  The  rising 
ground  still  retains  the  name  of  the  Castle  Hill.  On  the  mound,  after  many 
generations  had  consolidated  the  earth,  the  Normans  erected  the  keep  of  what 
seems  to  have  been  a  large  and  important  castle.  Portions  of  early  stone  walls 
exist  in  the  outer  works,  and  there  is  a  covered  way  or  passage  between  walls 
leading  from  the  town  to  the  keep,  which  seems  to  belong  to  the  fifteenth  century. 
The  greater  part  of  the  existing  buildings  are  of  brick,  of  the  time  of  Elizabeth, 
and  the  whole  of  the  mansion  is  included  within  the  ancient  walls,  which  form 
an  irregular  and  unbroken  circle,  and  stand  from  8  feet  to  9  feet  thick. 

The  buildings  are  placed  round  a  small  courtyard,  and  contain  a  fine  open- 
roofed  banqueting  hall,  from  which  a  staircase  ascends  to  the  great  chamber. 
Much  taste  has  been  shown  in  the  panelling  and  decorations  of  these  apartments, 
which  are  fitted  up  as  a  modern  residence.  The  ivy-clad  multangular  tower 
remains,  but  there  is  little  to  remind  us  of  "  the  associations  of  Sir  Tarquin  and 


STAFFORnsiinu:  403 

Sir  Lancelot  dii  Lac  and  their  nu)<iity  cunihat,  ur  the  ^^lorious  circumstances  of 
their  renowned  chivalry." 

Stukeley  says   that    Ktheltlcd   died  liere  ;    also  that  the  town  was  given  by 

William    the   Conqueror   to   the  Mannions,  who  built   the    castle  ;    they    were 

hereditary    champions   to   the    Kings   of    Kngland,  and    from   them    this   office 

descended    to  the   Dymocks   of  Scrivelsby  in   Lincolnshire.     A  MS.  Histor\-  of 

Tannvorth,  in  the  Uritish  Museum  (Add.  2K,i77),  says  that  the  Conqueror  conferred 

on  Robert  le  Marmion,  Lord  of  Fonteiiay,  near  Caen  in  Norinandv,  the  castle 

of  Tamworth  and  its  dependencies,  and  the  manor  of  Scrivelsbv  in  Lincolnshire, 

and  much  land,  to  be  held  by  Grand  Serjeantry,  that  is,  by  the  championship  in 

England,  which  office,  it  seems,  the   Marmions  had  lield   in   Norinandv.     This 

Kobert  is  said  to  have  been  a  great  warrior  at  Senlac,  or  Hastings,  and  having  had 

the  good  fortune,  like  Duke  William  himself,  to  survive  that  most  bIcKKly  and 

hard-fought   battle,  received,  like  his  comrade  warriors,  Ins  just  reward  at  the 

hands  of  the  new  King,  whom  he  had  helped  to  create,  thougli  at  the  e.\|>ensc  of 

the  Sxxon  owners  of   the  lands  he  entered  on.      Four  Rolnrrts  followi-d  hira. 

Robert,  second  lord,  died  about  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  ;  RoK-rt,  the 

third,  was  a  great  soldier,  and  espoused  tiie  side  of  Stephen.     He  went  to  France 

and  successfully  defended  the  castle  of  Falaise  (the  birtliplace  of  iJuke  William) 

against  Geoffrey  Plantagenei,  Count  of  Anjou,  ancestor  of  our  Plantagenets.     The 

Empress  NLiud  meanwhile  laid  liaiids  on  his  possessions,  and  gave  Tamwortli  to 

William  Beauchamp  ;   but  when  Stephen  recovered  power,  Marmion  obtained  his 

lands  again,  and  won  for  himself  an  infamous  name  among  the  roblK-r  lords  of 

that  time  for  oppression  and  ferocity.      He  w:ls  killed  in  a  skirmish   witli  the 

followers  of  Ralph,  Earl  Palatine  of  Chester,  by  riding  into  a  pit  he  had  dug  for 

the  others,  whereby  he  broke  his  thigh,  and,  while  striivlgliiig  to  escape,  a  soldier 

lopped  off  his  head. 

Robert,  fourth  lord  of  Tamworth,  was  one  of  Henry  li.'s  justiciaries,  and  diet! 
at  the  end  of  that  king's  reign  ;  liis  son  Robert,  lifth  lord,  accompanied  Richard 
Cceur  de  Lion  to  Xormandv,  and  afterwards  espcjused  the  cause  of  Jolm,  shilling 
with    him  in  his  expedition  to  Poictou  in  1213;  but  here  he  deserted  John,  and 
joined  the  French  King,  whereupon  his  lands  were  seized,  and  tlie  <!einolition  of 
Tamworth  was  decreed.     His  brother,  however,  obtained  relief  for  him,  and  re- 
admission  to  the  King's  good  graces,  and  he  received  back  liis  lands.     Dying  m 
1 218,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Robert,  who  died  in    1241,  leaving    a   st)n, 
Philip,  seventh  lord,  who  being  a  minor,  was  a  ward  of  William  de  C.intilu|K, 
Haron  llergavenny,  and  married,  in   1242,  the  daughter  ol   Hugli  de  KilfKck,  uf 
Kilpeck  Castle,  Hereford.     He  attended  Henry  III.  with  his  military  tenants  in 
1257    against    Llewellyn,   and    was    present    with    the    King   at   the   taking  of 
Northampton  ;   he  fought  br.ively  .it  the  b.itlle  of  Lewes,  and  also  at  Evesliam, 
and  ag.un  at  Kenilwortli,  on  the  fall  of  which  castle  he  was  made  Governor  of  it. 
He  died  in   1291,  aged  70,  leaving  tliree  daughters,  co-heirs,  and  Tamworth  went 


404 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


to  the  eldest,  Jane,  widow  of  William  de  Mortain  ;  but  Jane,  dying  s.p.,  1295,  the 
castle  was  inherited  by  her  niece,  Jane,  wife  of  Alexander  de  Frevile,  who  thus 
became  the  ninth  lord  of  Tamworth,  and  in  whose  family  it  remained  for  a 
century  and  a  quarter.  Baldwin  de  Frevile,  fifteenth  lord,  died  young,  and  this 
estate  passed  to  his  sister,  Elizabeth,  married  to  Thomas  Ferrers,  Baron  of  Groby 
(Leicester),  who  died  1458.  Tamworth  continued  in  the  Ferrers  family  until  the 
death  of  John  Ferrers,  twenty-fourth  lord,  in  1680.  In  his  minority  the  Civil  War 
took  place,  when  this  castle  was  garrisoned  for  the  King,  but  fell  later  into  the 
power  of  the  Parliament.  John's  granddaughter  succeeded,  and  married  Robert, 
eldest  son  of  Earl  Ferrers  ;  thence  Tamworth  passed  to  the  noble  families  of 
Northampton  and  Townshend,  in  whose  possession  it  still  remains. 


TUTBURY  (mmor) 

ON  the  extreme  E.  point  of  the  county,  where  the  Dove  divides  it  from 
Derbyshire,  and  on  the  N.  end  of  a  ridge  of  sandstone  rock  at  the 
confines  of  Needwood  Forest,  stand  the  remains  of  this  once  imposing  stronghold 
of  the  Duchv  of  Lancaster,  where  was  originally  a  favourite  residence  of  the 

Saxon    lords    of    Mercia. 
^~^^y^.  On  the  N.  the  cliff,  which 

the  castle  surmounts, 
rises  a  hundred  feet  above 
the  lands  below  it,  while 
on  W.  S.  and  E.  protec- 
tion was  gained  by  a 
broad  and  deep  ditch. 
The  river  was  edged  with 
marshes  which,  in  early 
days,  with  the  scarped 
rock,  must  have  ren- 
dered the  position  quite 
unassailable  on  its  north- 
ern face,  besides  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Dove  river 
as  a  moat.  On  that  side,  too,  and  eastward  were  earthworks,  over  a  ravine, 
through  which  the  approach  to  the  castle  was  led.  The  Saxon  mound, 
or  burh,  rises  again  40  feet  above  the  platform,  from  which  the  S.  face  of  the 
fortress  looks  down  upon  the  town  clustered  under  that  side  of  the  hill.  The 
trace  of  the  outer  walls  is  somewhat  circular,  enclosing  a  space  of  about  3  acres, 
and  raised  in  later  days  around  the  Saxon  settlement,  with  their  regular  mural 
towers  and  battlemented  rampart. 

The  Conqueror  granted  the  honour  of  Tutbury  to  Henry  de  Ferrars,  or  Ferrers,  a 


TUTBURY 


STAFFORnSHIRIi 


405 


Norman  baron,  who  had  Ixtn  a  Matithal,  or  Marslial,  of  his  army  (de  Fcmiriis, 

wlience  tlie  device  of  (lie  family  was  always  a  li<)rseshiie),.in(l  acted  1 

on  the  Domesday  Survey  ;  he  was  created  Earl  of  I Jerhv,  with  lai;;. 

the  powerful  family,  sprinj^iii}*  from  him,  enjoyed  the  honour  and  the  cattle  of 

Tiitlniry  until  towards  the  close  of  the  reij^n  of  Henry  III.     On  the  death  of  his 

father,  in  1254,  by  the  ()vertiirninf»  of  his  vehicle  on  the  brul}»e  of  St.  Netits,  when 

helpless  with  jioiit,  Robert  de  Ferrers,  as  a  child,  had  Income  a  Roval  ward,  and 


irrr^- 


TiritLkV 


was  espoused  to  Mary,  half-sister  of  the  Kinj^,  but  repudiatiiif;  the  Court,  in  1263 
he  allied  himself  tf)  de  Montfort  and  became  a  violent  partisan  of  the  natdn-. 
In  1266  havinj»,  after  makin;^  peace,  aj^ain  joined  the  losin;^  cause,  his  lands  wt  m 
finally  forfeited,  as  he  was  unable  to  pay  the  fine  im|>oscd  on  the  disinherited 
Harons,  which,  in  his  case,  amounted  to  _£"5o,ooo,  ;md  the  next  year  we  hear  of  this 
Robert  lieaflinj«  an  outbreak  in  the  north,  which  w.is  suppressed  by  KmH  Heinv. 
The  Kinj4  then  j;ave  Tulbury,  and  other  l.mds  of  the  Ferrers,  to  Ins  x'Cond  -'-n. 
Kdmund,  Earl  of  Uuicaster,  and  to  th.it  Duchy  they  are  still  .itt.ich«l.  When  the 
discord  arose  between  Thomas,  second  Karl  of  LuKMster,  and  Kdw.ud  II.,  in 
1322,  he  fortified  Tutburv  ajjainst  the  King,  but  had  to  surrender,  and  w.is  driven 
out  of  the  castle,  when  it  happened  tint  in  crossing  the  nvc«  Dt»vc,  a  little  K-low 


4o6  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Tutbury,  his  military  chest  fell  into  the  water,  and  a  large  sum  of  money,  intended 
for  the  payment  of  his  men,  was  lost.  In  1831,  500  years  after,  some  workmen 
ditjging  in  the  river  bed  found  silver  coins  in  large  quantities,  of  the  reigns  of 
Henry  III.  and  Edward  1.,  and  eventually  100,000  of  these  were  recovered,  and, 
being  claimed  as  treasure  trove,  were  placed  in  the  British  Museum  (sec  Poxte- 
FKACT,  Yorkshire,  concerning  this  second  earl).  After  this  Tutbury  seems  to  have 
fallen  into  neglect  and  disrepair,  until  it  was  taken  possession  of  by  John  of  Gaunt, 
Duke  of  Lancaster,  who  set  to  work  to  restore  the  fabric  and  built,  about  1350, 
the  greater  part  of  the  castle.  And  here  he  lived  in  great  state  and  splendour  at 
different  times,  having  the  credit  of  introducing,  for  the  amusement  of  the  good 
people  of  Tutbury  and  its  neighbourhood,  in  his  capacity,  perhaps,  of  King  of 
Castile  and  Leon,  a  barbarous  sport  called  bull-running,  for  which  this  town  was 
celebrated  from  those  days  down  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  In  February, 
1569,  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  who  had  been  kept  a  close  prisoner  at  Bolton  Castle, 
in  Yorkshire  (q.v.),  since  the  previous  July,  was  brought  to  Tutbury  for,  as 
Elizabeth  apprehended  an  attempt  at  her  rescue  by  the  Scots,  she  thought  it  safer 
to  keep  her  in  a  more  central  position  in  the  country.  She  was  brought  here  on 
four  occasions  between  1569  and  1585,  and  spent  at  this  castle,  in  four  visits, 
about  li  years  of  her  dreary  imprisonment  of  nineteen  years.  It  is  possible  that 
the  rheumatism,  from  which  she  suffered  so  much  latterly,  may  have  been  due  to 
the  damp  and  fog  of  the  Tutbury  marches.  In  the  Appendix  to  Shaw's  "  Historys 
of  Staffordshire  "  are  given  a  number  of  letters  from  and  to  Sir  Ralph  Sadler,  Mary's 
keeper  for  so  many  years  ;  he  moves  the  Queen  in  February,  1585,  from  Wingfield 
in  Derbyshire,  sixteen  miles,  to  Tutbury  in  two  days,  via  Derby,  "  through  ways 
foul  and  depe,"  and  arriving  thus  in  the  depth  of  winter  found  the  castle,  which 
Mary  had  not  seen  for  fifteen  years,  very  badly  found  and  unfurnished,  so  that  a 
great  many  things  were  required  to  make  it  habitable.  He  requisitions  for 
hangings,  sheets,  and  carpets,  the  Queen  complaining  that  she  did  not  like  her 
room,  which  was  only  9  feet  high,  and  without  a  ceiling,  and  "the  house  so 
cold."  To  guard  her  there  were  thirty  soldiers  kept,  whose  pay  was  8d.  a  day, 
without  being  found  in  meat  and  drink.  The  Queen  had  here  "4  good  coche 
horses  and  6  for  her  gentlemen  ; "  and  she  had  a  large  train  consisting  of : 
"Herselfe,  5  gentlemen,  14  servitours,  3  cooks,  4  boyes,  3  gentlemens'  men, 
6  gentlemens'  women,  2  wyves,  10  wenches  and  children,"  forty-eight  in  all ; 
then  the  accommodation  required  in  the  castle  was  "  2  rooms  for  herselfe,  5 
for  her  maydes  and  married  women,  and  8  for  her  gentlemen  and  officers  and 
others."  The  Queen's  "ordinary  dyet "  was  "about  16  dyches  at  both  courses, 
dressed  after  their  own  manner,  sometymes  more  or  less,  as  the  provision  servithe." 
"  For  her  2  secretaries,  master  of  her  household,  physician  and  de  Prean,  have  a 
messe  of  7  or  8  dishes,  and  do  dyne  always  before  the  queue,  and  their  owne 
servants  have  there  reversion  ;  and  the  rest  of  her  folk  dyne  with  reversions  of 
her  meat;    also  the  gentlewomen  and  the  wives  and  children  (16  in  all)  have 


STAFFORDSHIRK 


407 


2  messes  of  nicatc  of  i<  dyslies  at  hotlic  courses,  for  the  lH:tter  sort,  and  5  dislies 
for  the  meaner  sort."  The  "  base  eoiirt  "  tif  the  castle  was  lit  to  hold  forty  horses. 
Tlie  prices  of  provisions  are  tliiis  stated  :  "  Wlieat  at  20i.  a  quarter,  uiah  at  i^>., 
and  oats  at  Ss.  A  jjood  ox,  ^'4;  a  score  of  muttons,  (7;  hay,  at  ty.  4./.  |kt 
load."  Sir  Ralph  Sadler  had  lon^i  been  complainmn  at  Wni^jlield  that  he  wms 
worn  out  with  his  cliar^;e, 
and  he  prayed  to  be  dis- 
missed, iiut  wished  to  accom- 
pany the  yueen  to  Tutbury, 
she  beinj;  ill  with  rheuma- 
tism and  unable  to  walk. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a 
kind  custodian,  too  much  so 
it  was  thouf^ht,  as  afterwards 
he  was  censured  for  takinjj 
Mary  out  with  him  hawkinj^. 
Elizabeth  was  always  fearful 
of  the  Queen  of  Scots  escap- 
in^  before  she  could  compass 
her  death.  Here  both  Satller 
and  I^)rd  Shrewsbury,  aftei 
actinj^  as  custodians  for  si.\- 
teen  years,  were  permitted 
to  retire,  and  two  men  of  a 
harsher  type  took  their  places 

at  Tutbury,  namely,  Sir  .Amyas  Paulett  and  Drue  Drury.  All  these  pe(jplc,  and 
many  other  personages  of  history,  form  the  ihtinuilis  f'crsoiur  of  Scluller's 
"  Maria  Stuart." 

After  ten  months'  residence  at  Tutbury  Mary  was  removed  to  Ch.irtley,  Inrtween 
Uttoxeter  and  Stafford,  whence,  after  a  stay  of  nine  months,  they  took  lier  to  her 
judicial  murder  at  Fotherinj^hay  (i/.r.).  There  was  a  park  here,  a  nule  m  circuit, 
capable  of  feedinj^  seven  score  of  deer. 

The  state  of  the  castle  at  the  time  of  Mary's  residence  is  well  described  in  the 
interestinji  letters  of  Sir  R.  Sadler.  He  says  tlie  whole  area  of  al>out  tlirec  acrc^ 
was  encompassed  on  all  sides  but  one  with  .1  stronjj  and  lofly  emb.iltled  wall  .uu! 
deep  foss,  as  we  now  see.  The  chief  enti.mce  was  by  .1  brul;4e  un<ler  the  ^reat 
gateway  on  the  N.,  near  which  on  the  left  stocnl  a  building  containing  Mr.  Doreil, 
the  steward's,  oflices  and  lodgings.  Along  this  wall  to  the  N.K.,  at  aNiiil  ifto  feci 
from  the  entrance,  was  a  lofty  embattled  tower  of  four  storexN,  tlie  lowest  forming 
a  store,  over  which  was  Curll's  room,  aUive  that  the  doctor's,  and  at  the  lop  the 
chief  cook's.  Tlic  structure  was  tlieii  much  sliaken  and  crackitl,  l>ul  is  slill  there. 
Near  this,  but  below  in  the  castle  yard,  was  a  lung  low  building,  |\irallel  with  the 


rcTncRV 


^o8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

wall,  containing  Ihc  Queen's  apartments,  and  those  of  her  gentlewomen  on  the 
second  floor,  while  below  were  accommodated  Xau  or  Naue,  her  secretary,  and 
others,  with  the  buttery  and  pantry.  On  the  S.  side  was  the  hall,  6ii  feet  long  by 
29  broad,  and  the  State  chamber  ;  then  the  south  tower,  containing  the  presence 
chamber  and  ante-room,  and  other  State  rooms,  having  below  cellars  and  stores 
which  were  formerly  used  as  dungeons.  The  site  of  the  present  farmhouses  was 
occupied  by  the  kitchens,  bakery,  and  ofhces.  On  the  high  mound  the  keep  tower 
then  stood  in  ruins,  and  from  thence  along  the  W.  front,  for  220  feet,  extended 
along  the  edge  of  the  clitif  some  walling  and  palings,  up  to  a  small  tower,  from 
whence  to  the  entrance  was  a  good  wall. 

St.  Peter's  Chapel  is  supposed  to  have  stood  on  the  \V.  side  near  the  wall, 
where  was  afterwards  a  two-storied  house. 

The  fortress  was  held  for  Charles  I.  by  Lord  Loughborough,  and  being  taken 
by  Colonel  Brereton,  and  "  greatly  battered,"  was  by  order  of  the  Parliament,  in 
1646,  reduced  to  ruins  ;  whence  it  is  now  difticult  in  their  very  dilapidated  state  to 
make  out  many  of  the  buildings. 

The  ancient  Norman  keep  has  disappeared,  and  in  its  place  a  "  sham  ruin," 
erected  bva  Lord  Vernon,  crowns  the  mound.  The  original  one  had  the  name  of 
Juliet,  or  Julius,  tower,  a  not  uncommon  one  for  these  single  keeps,  although  the 
derivation  is  obscure.  At  the  N.E.  corner  of  the  base  court  is  the  great  gate- 
house, probably  of  the  time  of  Richard  II.  (Parker)  with  massive  solid  buttresses 
added  (temp.  Charles  I.)  to  strengthen  it.  It  is  placed  in  advance  of  the  wall  and 
flanks  the  ditch,  but  has  no  projecting  side  towers  ;  there  are  evidences  of  the 
drawbridge  and  two  portcullis  grooves.  On  the  E.  wall  was  a  large  rectangular 
mural  tower,  of  which  only  the  inner  face  and  a  square  turret  remain,  the  rest 
having  been  destroyed  with  gunpowder.  The  outer  wall  alone  of  the  great  hall  is 
standing,  but  the  family  apartments  at  the  upper  end  of  the  hall  (fifteenth  century) 
are  more  perfect  ;  under  these  are  fine  crypts  with  beautiful  vaultings,  of  perhaps 
Richard  II.  The  two  upper  rooms  are  of  fine  proportions,  and  have  handsome 
fireplaces  with  stone  ornaments,  clearly  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  gatehouse 
and  the  outer  walls  are  said  to  be  the  work  of  John  of  Gaunt,  who  was  a  great 
builder,  like  several  of  his  namesakes,  the  Dukes  of  Lancaster.  Close  to  the  castle 
is  the  parish  church  of  Tutbury,  once  the  abbey  church  of  Ferrars,  and  probably 
included  in  the  outer  walls  ;  it  was  founded  in  the  reign  of  Rufus.  The  defences 
of  the  castle  were  added  to  by  a  mill  leat,  which,  led  oft"  the  river  a  mile  above, 
turns  a  mill  beneath  the  castle  walls,  and  is  then  returned  to  the  river. 


i 


BELVOIR 


Xciccstcrsbirc 


A  S  H  B  Y-  D  E-  L  A  Z  O  r  C  H  (chUf) 

SOl'TH  of  the  town,  upon  a  beautiful  lawn  below  the  j^ardcn  of  the  manor- 
iiouse  of  the  property,  stand  the  ruins  of  a  magnificent  and  stalely 
(.asteliated  mansion,  built  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  Edward  IV.  (1474)  by 
llie  celebrated  Lord  Hastings,  who  was  beheaded  ni  the  Tower  ni  14X3 
by  order  of  the  Protector  Richard,  L)uke  of  Glo'stcr  (:;i/c'  Shakesiu'are,  "  Kmjj 
Richard  111.,"  act  iii.  scene  4).  The  licence  to  erect  the  castle  was  jjranted  by 
Kinj;  Edward  IV'.,  in  1461,  to  this  \jjrA  Hastinfjs,  his  chamberlain,  wlio  seems  to 
have  shortly  after  commenced  the  structure,  it  was  built  n\  the  militan>-  Gothic 
style  of  that  period,  and  combined  with  the  strength  of  a  defensililc  fortress  the 
lu.xury  and  relinemcnts  of  an  opulent  nobleman's  mansic^n. 

A  traveller  who  visited  the  place  in  iXoi  wmte  rcfiarduiji  it  :  "Its  dimensions 
seem  to  have  known  no  bounds,  either  in  the  lines  of  arranj^ement,  or  in  the 
altitude  of  the  several  storeys.  The  ^reat  hall  m  particular  can  be  traced  out,  as 
well  as  the  kitchens  and  many  chambers  of  State,  wherein  are  to  be  found,  in  ^«hkI 
preservation,  rich  doorways,  chimney-pieces,  arms,  devicc>,  and  other  ornamental 
accompaniments,  which  serve  to  conlirm  tliat  this  pile  must  have  vie<l  with  any 
of  its  castellated  competitors  for  architectural  fame  that  this  couiiln'  has 
produced. "  The  castle  consisted  of  twt)  lar^Je  emb.itlled  towers,  and  on  the  S. 
of  these  the  ;4reat  tower  or  keep,  contaiiiinji  the  hall,  with  .ip.utmcnt»,  kitchens. 
VOL.   I.  J  I 


4IO  CASTLES   OF  ENGLAND 

&c.  The  N.  tower  appears  to  have  been  inliahited  hy  the  owner's  family,  and  its 
rooms  have  still  the  appearance  of  ,L;reat  splendour.  At  a  distance  of  300  yards 
is  the  Mount  House,  a  strong  triangular  building,  which  is  connected  with  the 
cellars  of  the  N.  tower  by  a  subterranean  passage. 

Alan  de  Zouch  of  Rohan,  a  Breton  noble,  married  the  heiress  of  the  manor  of 
Ashbv  (temp.  Henry  III.),  which  again  (26  Edward  I.)  passed  by  marriage  to 
William  Mortimer,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Zouch.  This  family  failing  early  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  IV.,  the  manor  came  by  his  wife  Joyce,  the  heiress,  to  Sir  Hugh 
Burrell,  a  Knight  of  the  Garter,  and  thence  to  James  Butler,  Earl  of  Ormond  and 
Wiltshire,  on  whose  attainder  (i  Edward  IV.)  this  King  granted  Ashby  to  Sir 
William  Hastings  of  Kirby,  the  Captain  of  Calais,  son  and  heir  of  Sir  Leonard 
Hastings  of  Kirby.  Edward  IV.,  in  1461,  gave  him  a  licence  to  enclose  a  park 
and  build  a  castle,  and  created  him  Baron  Hastings  when  Chamberlain  of  his 
hou.sehold.  He  was  beheaded,  as  we  have  seen,  two  hours  after  a  quarrel  in  the 
Tower  with  Richard  of  Glo'ster ;  but  in  the  ne.xt  reign  the  family  was  restored, 
and  his  grandson  George,  Lord  Hastings,  was  made  Earl  of  Huntingdon  in  1529 
by  Henry  VI 11. 

In  November  1569,  Alary  Queen  of  Scots,  under  the  custody  of  the  Earls  of 
Huntingdon  and  Shrewsbury,  was  detained  at  this  castle  on  her  way  to  Tutbury, 
in  Stafford,  and  Coventiy,  at  the  time  of  the  northern  rebellion.  And  her  son 
James  I.,  in  1603,  was  entertained  here,  together  with  his  retinue,  for  seventeen 
days,  by  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  with  a  magnificence  and  lavish  expenditure 
that  afterwards  entailed  the  sale  of  twenty-four  manors  and  thirty-two  lordships 
of  his  host's  property. 

During  the  Civil  War,  Colonel  Henry  Hastings,  second  son  of  Lord 
Huntingdon  (afterwards  created  Lord  Loughborough),  fortified  and  held  Ashby 
Castle  for  the  King,  and  withstood  in  it  several  attacks  from  the  commander  of 
the  Parliamentary  forces.  Lord  Grey  of  Groby.  In  May  1645,  Charles  I.  visited 
the  fortress  on  his  way  to  Leicester,  and  when  returning,  beaten  off  from  that 
town,  he  came  hither  a  few  days  later,  before  proceeding  into  Wales.  In  the 
course  of  the  same  year  a  Parliamentary  army  appeared  before  Ashby,  and  laid 
siege  to  it,  when  a  very  gallant  defence  was  made  by  Lord  Loughborough  for 
several  months  ;  but  he  was  forced  at  last  to  surrender,  and  by  the  order  of  the 
House  of  Commons  in  February  1648,  the  castle  was  dismantled,  the  result  of 
this  being  the  havoc  we  see  to-day.  Ashby  had  obtained  the  name  of  "the 
maiden  garrison,"  from  the  circumstance  of  never  having  been  conquered. 

BELVOIR  {chief) 

THIS  very  magnificent  modern  castle  must  be  ranked  among  the  chief  castles, 
but  so  little  of  the  ancient  work  has  been  suffered  to  survive  that  it  might  be 
classed  as  "non-e.xistent."     Standing,  as  it  does,  on  the  borders  of  two  counties,  it 


LEICESTERSHIRE  411 

appears  doulitfiil  which  of  thcin  lijjhtly  claims  the  stiiicture.  Burton,  in  his 
History,  writes,  "  tlie  castle  is  certainly  in  Lincohi,"  wlnle  the  guide-hook  declares 
that  Belvoir  "  occupies  an  artificial  mound  thrown  up  on  a  spur  of  the  I^'icester- 
shire  Wolds,"  which  is  the  more  correct  account.  Its  position  is  a  very 
conspicuous  one,  on  the  top  of  a  lofty  hill,  and  it  is  visihie  at  a  distance  of  more 
than  thirty  miles. 

.A  Norman,  called  Robert  Todenei,  is  s;iid  tj>  liave  founded  the  original  castle, 
having  obtained  a  grant  of  the  manor  from  the  Conqueror,  but  the  place 
appears  to  have  passed,  after  a  brief  jxriod,  to  the  .Mbini  family,  who  were  hirds 
of  Melton  Mowbray  and  other  manors  in  Leicestershire.  The  heiress  general  of 
Albini  married  Lord  Kos,  of  ilamlake,  whose  co-heiress,  Eleiuior,  daughter  of 
Thomas,  Lord  Kos,  married,  about  1500,  Sir  Kolxrt  Maimers,  Knight,  of  Elal, 
Nortluimberland  (</.:■.),  from  whom  m-  descende<l  ''"■  in.v.nt  !uiy^>«^;^rs  of 
Belvoir,  the  Dukes  of  Rutland. 

Camden  says  that  on  the  attainder  of  Thomas,  Lord  Ros,  during  the  Wars  of 
the  Roses,  by  order  of  Edward  l\'.,  that  monarch  coiifirred  tlie  castle  with  very 
large  estates  on  William,  Lord  Hastings  (mv  Asiihy),  who,  "out  of  resentment  to 
Lord  Rocs,"  demolished  the  castle,  but  it  is  more  likely  that  Hastings,  on  getting 
possession,  objected  to  keep  up  this  as  well  as  his  other  fortresses. 

Leland's  account  is  as  fr)llows  :  "The  Castelle  of  Bellevoire  s|.iii<lilh  on  the 
very  knape  of  an  highe  liille,  stepe  up  eche  way,  partely  by  nature,  p.irtely  by 

working  of  mennes  Handes The  Lord  Ros  toke  King  Henry  the  VI.  parte 

agayne  King  Edwarde,  whereupon  the  Lord  Roses  Lmdes  stode  ;ls  confiscate 
King  Edwarde  prevaylynge,  &  Bellevoire  Castelle  was  put  in  keping  to  the  I^>rd 
Hastings.  The  which  dimming  thither  apon  a  tyme  to  juruse  the  ground,  &  to 
lye  in  the  castel,  was  sodenly  repellid  by  Mr.  Harington,a  man  of  I'oure  theralxjut, 
and  frende  to  the  Lord  Rf)se.  Wherapon  the  Lord  Hastinges  cam  thither  another 
tyme  with  a  strong  poure,  it  apon  a  raging  wylle  spoiled  the  Castelle,  defacing  the 
Roses,  &  taking  the  Leades  of  them,  wherewith  they  were  all  coverid.  Then  felle 
alle  the  castle  to  Ruine,  &  the  Tymbre  of  the  Roses  onkeverid  rottid  aw;iy,  and  the 
soile  between  the  Waulles  at  the  last  grue  fiil  of  Elders,  and  no  habitation  w;is  there 
tyl  that  of  late  dayes.  The  Erie  of  Rutland  hath  made  it  f.iirer  than  it  ever  was. 
In  the  Castel  be  2  faire  gates,  and  the  Dungeon  [keep]  in  a  f.iir  rounde  Tour  now 
titriud  to  pleasure,  as  a  place  to  w.iik  vii,  it  to  sec  al  the  Countery  aUmte,  & 
ravlid  about  the  round  wall,  aiul  a  garilen  platte  in  the  mitlle." 

Thomas,  thirteenth  Lord  Ros,  the  grandson  of  Sir  Rolx-rt  M.inners  of  Etal,  and 
Eleanor  Ros,  was  created  Earl  of  Rutland  in  1525,  and  wa.s  installed  .1  Kniglil  of 
the  Garter  ;  he  it  was  who  rebuilt  Belvoir  Castle  from  its  rums,  having  inherited  it 
at  the  death  of  his  grandmother,  whose  brother  Edmund,  Lord  Ros,  had  recovered 
the  property  at  the  accession  of  Henry  VII. 

riR-re  are  still  some  remains  of  the  original  large  round  Norman  keep,  and  np 
to  the  commencement  of  the  present  century  a  good  deal  of  the  ancient  work 


412  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

existed  ;  but  about  the  year  1800  the  then  Duke  of  Rutland,  with  the  aid  of  the 
architect  Wyatt,  proceeded  to  build  Belvoir  Castle  anew,  in  a  modern  Gothic  style, 
when  most  of  the  structure  that  was  old,  and  should  have  been  religiously 
preserved,  was  removed  and  perished. 

The  Staunton  Tower  is  so  called  because  the  service  of  defending  it  was  allotted 
to  a  family  of  that  name  who  were  vassals  at  Belvoir. 

CASTLE    DONINGTON    {>wn-existent) 

ON  Trcntside,  on  the  verv  confines  of  Derbyshire,  nine  miles  from  Ashby, 
there  was  formerlv,  on  the  S.  side  of  the  town  of  Castle  Donington,  a 
castle  of  which  onlv  fragments  of  the  walls  and  the  moat  are  still  visible. 

Eustace,  the  son  of  Nigel,  a  Norman,  whom  Hugh  Lupus,  Earl  of  Lincoln, 
had  made  Baron  of  Haulton,  built  it,  on  an  abrupt  hill  overlooking  a  large  e.xtent 
of  flat  country,  a  situation  both  bold  and  secure,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
inland  for  the  purposes  of  a  fortress.  The  son  of  this  Eustace  married  Albreda, 
the  heiress  of  Robert  Lacy,  Earl  of  Pontefract,  and  her  son  assumed  the  name  of 
Lacy.  In  1216,  John  Lacy,  having  joined  his  brother  Barons  the  year  before,  had 
his  castle  demolished  by  King  John;  but  the  destruction,  perhaps  owing  to  that 
King's  opportune  death,  was  probably  not  completed,  and  the  castle  must  have 
been  rebuilt,  as  it  continued  to  be  possessed,  together  with  the  manor,  by  various 
families  from  the  time  of  Henrv  III. to  nearly  the  sixteenth  century.  In  the  reign 
of  Edward  II.  they  became  the  property  of  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  the  King's 
cousin-german  ;  but,  on  his  being  beheaded  in  1322,  Edward  gave  the  place  to  his 
favoui  ite  the  younger  Despencer,  and  upon  his  death  settled  it  on  his  own  brother, 
Edmund  of  Woodstock,  Earl  of  Kent ;  and  it  remained  the  property  of  the  Earls 
of  Kent  till  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  centurv.  In  1464,  the  stewardship  of  this 
castle  and  manor  was  conferred  by  Edward  IV.  on  his  faithful  adherent.  Sir  William 
Hastings,  who  assisted  him  in  his  escape  from  Middleham,  and  was  created  Baron 
Hastings  {see  Ashby-de-l.a-Zouch)  ;  but,  on  his  murder  by  Richard  III.,  the 
estate  was  seized  by  the  Crown.  His  grandson  was  created  Earl  of  Huntingdon 
in  1529 ;  and  in  1595  the  Earl  of  Essex,  who  had  obtained  the  manor,  sold  Don- 
ington to  George,  fourth  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  for  ;^30oo,  and  his  descendants 
came  to  live  at  the  new  mansion  of  Donington,  built  by  Lord  Huntingdon  when 
driven  out  of  Ashby  during  the  Civil  War.  In  the  erection  of  this  house  the 
materials  of  the  old  castle  were  employed  to  such  an  extent  that  the  ancient  fabric 
was  destroyed,  and  few  traces  remain  of  it  now  excepting  the  earthworks. 


LKICKSTKRSHIRi: 


KARL    SHII/rOX   (non-exisUnl) 


4'3 


SO  called  from  tlic  manor  bciiij»  possessed  in  early  times  by  the  ancient  Earls 
of  Leicester,  one  of  whom,  Robert,  called  "  Crookback,"  having  (temp. 
Henry  11.)  founded  a  castle  here,  as  he  also  did  at  Leicester,  Moiiiitsorrel,  and 
W'liitwick.  Ill  liiirton's  lime  (1622)  this  castle  was  said  by  him  to  Ik-  "entirely 
dilapidated,"  and  now  there  is  little  to  be  made  out  save  the  mound  whereon  its 
keep  stf)od,  in  a  place  called  to  this  day  "The  Castle-yard. " 

f  I  R  f  )  P,  ^'    (non-e.MsUnt) 

THIS  manor  was  jjiven  by  William  the  Conqueror,  or  by  William  Rufus,  to 
Huf^h  de  (irandmeisnel,  or  Grantmesnil,  whose  dauj^hter,  I'etronella, 
inarryiiif^  Robert  "  lilanchemains,"  Karl  of  Ix'icester,  br<>uj»lit  liim  the  lands, 
which  afterwards  came  to  deQuincy,  Earl  of  Winchester,  and  thence  by  an  heiress 
lit  that  family,  named  Marj^aret,  to  William  de  Ferrers,  second  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Derby,  created  Haron  (jioby.  There  was  an  ancient  castle  here,  whose  walls,  as 
it  appears  from  an  old  record,  were  beaten  down  by  the  command  of  Henry  II. 
A  fine  sheet  of  water,  called  (iroby  Pool,  e.xists  here.  Ho  acres  in  e.xtent,  and 
adjacent  to  it  are  some  slij^ht  vestij^es  of  the  castle,  destroyed  in  1170.  A  brick 
and  stone  mansion  of  the  Greys,  Harons  Kerrers  of  Cjroby,  was  erectetl  close  by 
in  later  times,  of  which  an  old  hall  and  some  remains  still  exist,  and  near  this 
house  is  the  small  mound,  which  is  almost  all  that  can  be  traced  of  the  old  castle. 

H  I  \  Ci\  L  K  'S'  (tion-cxistenl) 

THE  town  lies  on  the  hijjh  road  midway  between  Leicester  and  Coventn*',  not 
far  from  the  Watlinj^  Street.  It  had  a  castle  which  stood  in  its  midst,  on 
the  S.  of  the  present  Castle  Street,  built  in  the  rei^n  of  William  Rufus  by  one 
of  the  greater  Xorman  nobles,  Hugh  de  GrandmesncI,  who  came  over  in  the 
train  t)f  Duke  William,  and  did  him  such  good  service  tliat  he  was  rewarded  with 
sixty-seven  lordships  in  this  county,  besides  thirty-eight  elsewhere.  He  \\a> 
api">oiiitcd  Cjovernor  of  Hampshire  in  lo^x;,  and  sheriff  of  Leicester,  with  the 
charge  of  that  town  ;  and  on  the  occasion  of  his  marriage  with  the  heiri"ss.  Lady 
.\delgiza,  was  made  Lord  High  Steward  of  England.  In  loHH,  Grandmesnel,  on 
the  part  of  the  Red  King,  quelled  an  insurrection  of  the  nobles,  and  stningly 
espoused  that  King's  usurpation  of  the  rights  of  his  elder  brother,  Duke  Rolnrt. 

On  his  death  his  daughter  I'arnel,  or  I'etronella,  marrying  Rolx-rt  "  Hlanche- 
mains,"  Earl  of  Leicester,  brought  him  her  father's  hereditary  ofttcc  and  rank, 
together  with  this  baronv.     The  descent  of  the  earklom  is  given  in  another  place. 

Grandmesnel  built  the  castle  at  this  place,  and  also  the  church  of  Hinckley, 
close  by  the  castle,  and  made  a  park.     In  ro</4,  K-mg  ageti  and  inl'irm,  lie  look  on 


414 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


liiin  the  habit  of  a  monk  at  St.  Ebrulf's  Abbey,  in  Normandy,  and  there  died 
shortly  after,  leaving  five  sons  and  three  daughters,  his  son  Yvo  succeeding  to  the 
bulk  of  the  property. 

It  is  not  known  wlien  this  castle  was  alienated  or  when  demolished,  but  it  is 
probable  that  this  happened  under  the  orders  of  Henry  II.,  in  1173  or  1175,  for 
the  same  reasons  as  those  for  which  Leicester  Castle  was  destroyed.  Leland 
wrote  (cir.  1542)  :  "The  mines  of  the  Castle  of  Hinkeley,  now  longging  to  the 
King,  sumtvmc  to  the  Erie  of  Leircester,  be  a  V  miles  [nearly  13]  from  Leircester, 
&  in  the  borders  of  Leicester  forest,  &  the  boundes  of  Hinkeley  be  spatius  & 
famose  ther."  In  1622,  Burton  affirms  the  castle  to  be  "utterly  ruinated  and 
gone,  and  onlv  the  mounts,  rampires,  &  trenches  were  to  be  seen  ; "  the  tine 
park  also  had  been  disparked.  The  site  was  for  ages  made  into  a  garden,  and  the 
castle  hill  has  been  greatly  reduced  by  the  removal  of  gravel  therefrom  for  the 
roads.  In  1760  the  site  was  purchased  and  a  house  was  built  upon  it,  at  which 
time  the  ancient  moat  and  foundations  of  a  drawbridge  over  it  were  discovered. 
It  is  still  possible  to  trace  the  castle  ditch. 

The  church  steeple  is  said  to  have  been  built  with  stones  from  the  castle  of 
Grandmesnel. 


KIRBY   MUXLOE  (»m,or) 

THIS  castle  was  built  by  the  iirst  Lord  Hastings,  the  confidant  and  favourite 
of  Edward  I\'.,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  Civil  Wars  of  the  Roses,  when 
it  was  felt  that  strong  defensible  castles  were  out  of  date,  and  that  what  was 
required  was  the  provision  of  domestic  comfort,  with  due  regard  to  protection  in 

case  of  trouble.  Kirby  was, 
therefore,  a  mansion  slightly 
fortified,  and  with  a  good 
moat  and  drawbridge.  There 
is  a  tradition  that  the  place 
was  built  by  Lord  Hastings 
as  a  residence  for  Jane  Shore  ; 
it  is  of  brick  with  stone 
dressings,  and  it  would  be  a 
misnomer  to  call  it  a  castle 
proper.  A  licence  was 
granted  by  Edward  IV.  for 
building  castles  at  Ashby-de- 
la-Zouch,  at  Kirby,  and  at  Bagworth.  On  the  sudden  murder  of  Lord  Hastings 
by  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  in  1483,  that  unfortunate  nobleman's  estates 
were  seized  by  the  Crown,  to  be  restored  to  the  family  by  Henry  VII.,  and  Kirby, 
like  Ashby  and  his  other  possessions,  continued  thereafter  in  the  Hastings  family. 


l^IRKV   MUXLOE 


LEICFSTFRSHIRF.  415 

The  ivy-clad  ruins  have  a  very  picturesque  ettect,  standiii]^  close  tm  tlie  tuar^in 
ol  the  moat,  whicli  is  still  perfect.  The  Icjwer  part  of  the  ^ateliDUse,  and  the  walls 
of  one  ol  the  comer  to\ver>,  remain,  with  fraj;menls  of  the  connectujjj  huddin;;>. 
Tile  tower  is  of  tiiree  storeys,  with  lireplaces  on  each  Hoor,  and  a  stair  turret 
at  one  corner  with  stairs  of  brick.  The  entrance  jjatehouse  is  Hanked  by  two 
towers,  with  a  stone  roof  to  the  entrance  archway,  and  over  this  is  a  jjo«kI 
ciiainber,  with  two  small  ones  in  the  Mtle  turrets,  which  are  octagonal. 


l.KlL'KSTI-:!^  (tniiior) 

THIS  was  a  strong  camp,  the"l<at(e"  of  the  Romans,  the  trace  of  its  walls 
beinji  quite  discoverable  in  Stukeleys  time  (1720).  Founded  m  the  verv 
centre  of  the  Kinj^dom  of  Mercia,  it  became  an  important  |V)st  of  the  Saxons,  and 
ihe  mound  is  jierhaps  the  work  of  KthelHed,  as  are  those  of  Tannvorth  and 
Warwick  (</.;■.). 

The  town  and  Saxon  fort  of  Leicester  were  placed  by  the  Conqueror  inuler 
Huj^li  de  Grandmesnil  of  Groby,  Hereditary  Grand  Steward  and  Lord  of 
Hinckley,  where,  likewise,  there  is  a  line  mound.  He  possessed  one  ipiarter  of 
the  town  itself ;  but  somewhat  later  Robert  de  Bellemont,  Earl  of  Mellent,  who 
was  created  Earl  of  Leicester,  acquired  this  property,  and  between  1108  and  11  iK 
loiiiided  the  castle,  as  he  or  his  son  did  those  of  Mount  Sorrel,  Whitwick,  and 
Shiiton.  His  son  Robert,  second  Earl,  called  "  Bossa,"  or  Hunchbach,  was  Grand 
Justiciary  of  Enj^land  in  the  reijin  of  Stephen,  and  was  made  Earl  of  Hereford 
in  Ii3<;;  he  added  to  tiie  buildin}^,  and  was  the  founder  of  the  .Abltey  of 
St.  Mary  of  the  Meadows  (de  I'ratis),  north  of  the  town.  His  son  Robert,  called 
"  HIanciiemains,"  married  Fetronella,  dau;.;hter  and  heiress  of  the  Grandmesinls, 
and  so  became  possessed  of  Hinckley  and  Groby.  This  Earl,  servinj*  in 
Normandy,  was  won  over  by  (Jueen  Eleanor  to  espouse  the  cause  of  her  eldest 
son,  Prince  Henry,  aj^ainst  Henry  11.,  who  sent  against  him  Richard  de  l-icv,  his 
Great  Justiciary,  to  besiefie  the  town  of  Leicester,  in  which  Hlanchemains  and  his 
Countess  held  the  castle  for  a  time  ;  but  they  were  made  prisoners  subsequently 
by  Humphrey  de  Bohun,  and  were  st)  kept  till  the  surrender  of  Mount  Sorrel  and 
Grobv.  Then,  in  1 175,  the  Kinj^  caused  liie  castle,  that  is,  the  Norman  keep  on 
tile  nH)und,  to  be  demolished.  Robert  l*'it/parnell,  fourth  earl,  died  1 204,  .*./>., 
when  the  castle  and  estates  came  to  Simon  de  Montford,  the  Bald,  third  count  of 
that  name,  who  had  married  the  heiress  of  Robert  Fitzparnell.  His  (grandson, 
Simon  de  Montford,  cominj^  to  En^^land  and  the  Court  of  Henry  III.  in  12^2, 
and  iniieritmji  the  Enj'lish  property  of  the  Bellemonts,  assumed  the  title  «»f  Earl 
of  Leicester,  and  marryiiifj  the  King's  sister  Eleanor,  was  in  1 2y)  fully  invested  by 
Henry  with  that  title.  After  the  fate  of  this  great  E.irl  at  Evesham,  his  ptssi-vsion 
of  Leicester  was  confiscated,  and  granted  by  the  King  to  his  second  son,  Edmund, 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  ever  since  which  tune  Ihe  place  h.i>  gone  with  the  Duchy  of 


4i6 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


Lancaster.  Other  buildings  besides  the  keep  had  by  that  time  been  erected, 
and  were  made  use  of  for  the  Assizes  in  1298,  when  three  executions  for 
theft  took  place  in  the  courtyard.  Edward  I.  was  there  in  1300.  In  1318 
Edward  II.,  with  Queen   Isabella  and  the  Papal  Legates,  were  at  Leicester,  on 


/ia^aji.p.e 


LEICESTER   IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY 


their  way  to  the  North,  and  in  1326,  the  year  in  which  the  She  Wolf  of  France 
came  back  from  Paris  with  Mortimer  to  dethrone  her  husband,  that  unhappy 
King  was  again  at  Leicester  Castle. 

John  of  Gaunt  lived  here,  among  his  other  Lancastrian  palaces,  and  enter- 
tained his  nephew,  Richard  II.,  with  Queen  Anne  of  Bohemia,  and  many  dis- 
tinguished personages ;  he  dates  his  will  from  his  chamber  in  the  castle  of 
Leicester.  They  brought  the  doomed  Richard  to  Leicester,  before  taking  him 
to  his  last  prison  at  Pomfret.     Henry  IV.  held  a  Parliament  at   Leicester,  which 


LEICESTFRSHIRi".  41- 

passed  decrees  against  the  Lollards,  and  it  was  in  this  Hall  that,  111  142'),  Hcmy  \'l. 
held  his  "Bat"  Parliament.  Hoth  Kdward  IV.  and  Richard  III.  passed  m)1uc 
days  of  their  eventful  reigns  here,  and  from  this  castle  llie  latter  Kiii/^  inarched  to 
Hosworth  Ki»  Id,  while  his  dishonoured  body  was  brought  back  from  tliat  fiijht 
into  the  castle  precincts,  and  laid  for  a  time  in  the  church  of  St.  Nfarv  de  Castro. 
After  this  epoch  Leicester  was  nej«lected,  and  fell  into  imcheckeil  decay,  so  that 
Leiand  wrote  there  was  "no  appearance  of  hijjii  walls  or  dykes."  In  1633 
Charles  I.  ^^ave  orders  for  the  s:i!e  of  tlie  ruined  |X)rtions,  and  for  the  repair  of 
the  Hall  and  the  rest  of  the  buildinj^s.  In  1643  Leicester  was  held  for  llie  P.irlia- 
nieiit,  ami  when  the  town  was  stormed  by  I'rince  l<u|H.rt  in  1645,  the  ammunition 
in  the  castle  fell  into  his  hands.  In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  the  east 
front  of  the  fjreat  Hall  was  taken  down,  and  was  replaced  by  the  ijinoble  red  brick 
erection  that  so  disli;^iiies  the  place,  whilst  its  interior  was  remodelled  for  the  uses 
of  the  .Assize  Courts.  The  W.  wall  retains,  on  the  river  fnjut,  its  old  maxinry 
of  the  Decorated  period. 

Enterinj^  the  castle  yard  from  under  the  ancient  upper  gatehouse,  called  the 
porter's  lodt^e,  which  is  of  timber,  and  of  Tndor  buildinj»,  one  has  in  front,  on  the 
\V.,  the  Hall,  and,  opposite  to  it,  the  Urand  old  church  (partly  Norman)  of 
St.  Marvde  Castro.  Between  the  two,  in  the  middle  of  the  yard,  is  a  grassy  spaX, 
somewhat  raised  above  the  j,'ravel,  whicli  was  the  place  of  e.xccution,  in  front  of 
the  hall  of  trial  ;  here  were  (.h\\i  up  recently  two  skeletons  with  the  head  laid  on 
the  breast  of  each.  At  a  short  distance  to  the  S.  is  the  j»reat  fjreeii  moatless 
mound  ot  the  Sa.xons,  the  site  of  the  Noiinan  keep  ra/ed  by  Henry  II.,  now 
surrounded  with  a  crown  of  trees.  The  old  castle  well  alone  e.vists  on  it,  and  a 
small  heap  of  stores,  but  the  summit  was  lowered  of  late,  some  15  feet.  Past  this 
in  the  lane  is  the  much  decayed  niin  of  the  S.  ;4ate,  called  the  Turret  Gateway,  of 
Edwardian  work,  leadiii}^  to  the  Newarke,  or  New  Work,  of  later  date,  which  is  a 
lar]^e  enclosure  added  as  a  sort  of  outer  ward,  havinj^  still  its  line  j^atehouse,  now 
called  the  Ma^razine,  and  its  walls  with  two  mural  towers. 


.M  !•:  I .  r  0  \     .MOW! '.  U  .\  \    {non-fxislail) 

WHO  shall  tell  where  lies  the  site  ol  this  castle:-  The  original  j^rantee  of 
the  manor  was  Geoffry  de  Wirce,  from  whoni  the  lands  passed  to  NiiJel 
d'.Albini,  who  took  the  name  of  Mowbray,  transmitting  the  estates  and  castle  to 
the  familv  of  that  name,  so  famous  in  after  vears.  William  de  Mowbray  was  «)nc 
of  Kmi4  John's  Barons,  most  active  in  obtaining  the  Great  Ch.irter  in  1215. 


VOL.   I.  30 


4i8  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

MOUNTSORREL   {non-existent) 

NEAR  Loughborough,  on  a  spur  of  the  steep  and  rugged  granite  range  of 
hills  at  this  locality,  overhanging  the  river  Soar,  is  the  site  of  a  castle 
founded  by  Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester,  whose  son,  Robert  "  Blanchemains,"  as  he 
was  called  from  the  fairness  of  his  hands,  siding  with  the  sons  of  King  Henry  IL 
in  their  rebellion  against  their  father,  forfeited  this  and  other  possessions  in  1173 
to  that  monarch.  The  castle  afterwards  came  by  marriage  to  Saer  de  Quincy,  Earl 
of  Winchester,  who  took  part  with  the  French  Dauphin  against  the  young  King, 
Henry  III.,  when  the  Protector  Pembroke  despatched  an  army  into  Leicester- 
shire under  Ralph,  Earl  of  Chester,  the  Earl  of  Albemarle,  and  Falk  de  Brent, 
who  laid  siege  to  Mountsorrel  Castle.  Thereupon  the  Governor,  Henry  de 
Braybroke,  found  means  to  send  a  message  to  the  Dauphin  in  London,  praying 
for  assistance,  and  the  Earl  of  Winchester  obtained  from  Louis  a  force  of  600 
mounted  men-at-arms  and  20,000  foot,  with  which  he  marched  (April  30,  1217)  to 
succour  his  fortress.  A  more  ragamuffin  set  of  troops  were  never  let  loose  on 
English  ground,  composed  as  they  were,  of  the  refuse  of  their  own  land,  ill-clad 
and  greedy  for  plunder.  Their  general  was  the  Count  de  Perche,  who,  in  order 
to  bribe  them  into  obedience,  had  to  give  them  for  plunder  the  country  they 
passed  through  ;  and  so  they  marched,  by  St.  Albans  and  Dunstable,  robbing  and 
burning  as  they  went.  On  learning  the  approach  of  this  formidable  force, 
Chester  and  the  other  Royalist  Barons  raised  the  siege  of  Mountsorrel,  and 
retreated  to  Nottingham,  and  the  Dauphin's  precious  army  arrived,  only  to  hold 
high  festival  with  the  delighted  garrison,  and  to  overrun  the  neighbourhood  at 
their  ease.  On  May  20  following,  however,  all  this  foreign  horde  and  their 
general,  De  Perche,  were  annihilated  at  Lincoln,  when  the  castle  of  Mountsorrel 
fell  into  Pembroke's  hands,  and  he  caused  it  to  be  razed  to  the  ground,  to  the 
joy,  Camden  says,  of  the  inhabitants  aroimd,  who  looked  on  this  castle  as  "a 
nest  of  the  devil  and  a  den  of  thieves  and  robbers."  At  the  present  time  nothing 
is  to  be  seen  on  the  site  but  heaps  of  rubbish. 


S  E  G  R  A  V  E   {non  -existent) 

THE  lands  here,  which  lie  on  the  N.  side  of  the  county,  near  the  Wolds,  gave 
the  title  of  baron  to  the  ancient  family  of  Segrave,  which  had  a  castle  here. 
The  first  baron  was  summoned  to  Parliament  (49  Henry  HI.)  by  writ,  this  being 
the  first  instance  of  a  summons  issued  in  that  manner  ;  their  principal  seat  was 
at  Caledon,  or  Caludon,  in  Warwickshire  {q.v.). 


LEICKSTERSHIRE  419 

THORPE   ARNOLD  iHon-rx,sUnt) 

SiriATED   1^   miles   X.K.  from    Mcltoii.     In    1276  "  Eriiald  dc  liosto,"  or 
Arnold  dc  Bois,  held  the  manor  and  built  the  castle,  of  which  at  this  day 

there  are  no  remains. 


Will  1  W  I  L  K   (iiaii-txisUnt) 

OX  tile  \V.  side  ol  the  wild  and  1  nfij^ed  country,  anciently  called  the  forest  of 
Charnwood,  was  a  manor  of  larj^e  extent,  heloi)^inj<  to  the  old  Karls  of 
Leicester,  mentioned  in  connection  with  other  castles  in  this  shire,  who  had  here 
a  castle  and  a  park.  The  castle  was  founded,  like  that  at  I-eicester  and  uther!>, 
by  Robert,  Karl  of  Leicester,  who  died  1167.  It  is  said  that  the  Norman  baron, 
Hiij^li  de  (iiaiulmesnel  (temp.  William  Kufus),  had  a  residence  here.  It  came 
later,  by  the  iiiarriaj^e  o(  an  heiress,  like  Groby  Castle,  to  de  yuincv.  Earl  of 
Winchester,  and  afterwards,  by  Klizalxth,  younjjest  dauj^hler  and  co-heir  of 
koj^er,  Karl  of  Winchester,  to  the  great  northern  chief,  Alexander  Comvn,  Earl 
of  liuchan,  her  husband.  A  licence  to  crenellate  wxs  obtained  (14  Kdward  It.) 
by  "  Henry  de  Ikllemonte  [Beaumont],  Consanguinens  Regis,"  for  his  iminsuiii 
at  Whitewyk,  and  from  the  Beaumonts  the  property  went  to  the  Hastings  familv, 
of  Kirby  Muxloe  (</.;•.). 

But  few  vestiges  and  few  records  remain  of  this  castle,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
nearly  coeval  fortresses  of  Groby  and  Mountsorrel.  It  was  built  on  a  small 
mount,  the  whole  of  which  it  covered,  in  the  centre  of  the  town  which  in  all 
lirobability  had  grown  up  around  it.  Traces  of  what  appears  to  have  lieeii  tlie 
keep  are  the  only  remains  at  present  existing,  but  more  extensive  ruins  were 
standing  within  the  recollection  of  aged  persons  of  the  neiglibourhood  in  1H42. 
"  With  the  brook  at  its  base,  w  ith  the  ancient  church,  and  w  ith  the  lx)ld  and 
abrupt  front  of  the  forest  rocks  on  the  X.  and  K.,  the  castle  must  have  bem  m 
object  of  solitaiy  grandeur."     (Potter's  "Charnwood.") 


OAKHAM 


IRutlanbsbire 


ESSENDINE   {non-existent) 

BLORE  says  (1811)  that  the  site  of  the  castle  of  the  lords  of  Essendine 
may  still  be  clearly  ascertained,  "though  there  be  not  now  one  stone 
of  the  edifice  left  upon  another;"  it  stood  close  to  the  Lincolnshire 
border,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  S.E.  of  the  village,  upon  a  raised 
platform  or  mound  of  oblong  form,  divided  bv  a  depression,  or  ditch,  into  two 
portions,  the  larger  of  which,  on  the  S.  side,  has  a  square  elevation  in  its  middle, 
representing  the  site  of  the  keep.  The  whole  covered  an  area  of  about  an  acre) 
surrounded  by  a  wide  and  deep  moat,  which  was  supplied  with  water  by  a  rivulet 
that  runs  on  the  E.  of  it.  The  mound  points  certainly  to  a  very  early  origin,  and 
the  name  is  said  to  have  signified  the  Easter  Dune  or  hillock.  On  the  S.  side  of 
the  moat  stands  a  chapel,  doubtless  the  castle  chapel,  dedicated  to  the  B.V.M., 
with  a  fine  circular-headed  Norman  doorway,  ornamented  with  zigzag  and  other 
mouldings,  and  some  very  curious  earlv  sculpture,  being  one  of  the  earliest 
examples  of  such  work  in  this  country.  A  careful  drawing  of  this  doorway  is 
given  in  Curteis'  "Ancient  Specimens." 


RUTLAXDSmKl-:  421 

Gilliert  dc  Giiiul  (jlituiiitcl  E^^ciuliiic  alter  llic  Cuiiqiicst,  and  111  tlic  rci^jii  i>( 
Henry  II.  the  lieires?^  of  liis  taiuily,  Kolicsia,  I^idy  of  K^sciidinc,  broujilit  the 
manor  in  marriage  to  VVilham  de  Hiissew,  and  left  two  daiij^hters,  hy  whom  the>c 
lands  were  carried  to  the  families  of  Hiiisly  and  Veteri|V)nt,  or  Vi|xjnl,  de  Clifford 
and  Cr(ini\\el!,  and  thence  to  Spenser  de  Heaiichainp,  and  from  him  to  Kichard 
Neville,  Earl  of  Warwick,  at  whose  fall  they  came  to  the  Crown.  Henry  VII. 
allowed  the  manor  to  vest  in  the  Countess  of  Warwick,  but  she  had  l«>  settle  it 
upon  Henry  \'lll.,  who  sold  it  to  William  Cecil,  the  threat  Lord  i{urlei)<h  of 
Elizabeth's  reij^n,  whose  second  -%on,  Robert,  was  created  bv  James  I.  Haron  Cecil 
of  Esseiidine,  a  title  still  held  by  his  direct  descendant,  the  present  .Marquess  of 
Salisbury.  This  Robert  Cecil,  who  rose  to  be  Lord  Hij^h  Treasurer,  was  created 
in  1605  Earl  of  Salisbury.  Some  touchin^^  sentences  of  this  eminent  Minister  are 
recorded,  showinj,'  how  little  j^reat  success  in  life  contributed  to  his  peace  of  mind 
and  ct)mfort.  In  his  last  illness,  worn  out  with  business,  he  was  heard  to  s;iv  to 
Sir  Walter  Cope  :  "  Ease  and  pleasure  quake  to  hear  of  death  ;  but  my  life,  full 
of  cares  and  miseries,  desireth  to  be  dissolved."  And  some  years  before  (in 
1^)03)  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Sir  James  Harinjjton,  the  poet,  in  nuich  the  saMie 
tone  :  "(lood  kinj^ht,"  saiti  the  Minister,  "rest  content,  and  jjive  heed  to  one  that 
hath  sorrowed  in  the  brij»ht  lustre  of  a  Court,  and  j^one  heavily  even  011  the  best- 
seeming  fairground.  Tis  a  great  task  to  prove  one's  honesty,  and  yet  not  mar 
one's  fortune.  Vou  have  tasted  a  little  thereof  in  our  blessed  Queen's  time,  who 
was  more  than  a  man,  and,  in  truth,  sometimes  less  than  a  woman.  I  wish  I 
waited  now  in  your  presence-chamber,  with  ease  at  my  food,  and  rest  in  my  bed. 
I  am  pushed  from  the  shore  of  comfort,  and  know  not  where  the  winds  and  waves 
of  a  Court  will  bear  me.  I  know  it  bringeth  little  comfort  on  earth  ;  and  he  is,  I 
reckon,  no  wise  man  that  looketh  this  way  to  heaven."     (liurke.) 

Some  part  of  the  castle  must  have  been  standing  temp.  Elizabeth,  ;is  Lord 
Burleigh  in  his  will  mentions  Essendine  as  a  place  for  the  residence  of  this  very 
son  Robert,  and  no  other  manor-house  appears  ever  to  have  existed  on  the 
property. 

L  ^'  I )  I  N  ( ;  T  O  X  (noH-fxislail) 

S()ME  old  authors  have  said  that  here  was  once  a  castle,  but  Hrewer  aflirms 
that  from  accurate  examination  no  traces  of  any  ancient  edifice  can  Ih* 
foiiiul,  with  the  exception  of  the  hospit.il  adjoining  the  churchyard,  which  was 
the  old  manor-place  of  the  Bishops  .,t  I  n..  ,,ln  .  ,,nv  .iii  il  I.\  nml.!.'li  mio  .m 
almshouse. 


421 


CASTLES   OF  ENGLAND 


OAKHAM    (xmwr) 

THIS  castle  stood  at  the  X.  cud  of  the  town,  adjoining  the  churchyard,  where 
in  Camden's  time  were  the  decaying  walls  of  the  old  castle  ;  but  at  the 
present  time  all  has  disappeared-even  the  dykes  and  ditches-with  the  exception 
of  the  great  Hall  and  an  old  wall  enclosing  it.  This  wall,  as  shown  in  Buck's 
"Antiquities,"  is  oval,  of  thin  section,  and  built  of  loose  rubble;  inside  it  are  some 
few  remains  of  foundations,  together  with  the  castle  well.     Outside  the  wall  are  a 

high  bank  and  a  wide 
moat,  nearly  dry,  and 
some  enclosures  which 
once  contained  the  gar- 
dens and  fishponds. 

Queen  Edith,  the  wife 
of  the  Confessor,  owned 
Oakham  and  its  manor- 
hall,  which,  being  Royal 
property,  were  taken  over 
by   the   Conqueror,  and 
Henry  II.  gave  the  estate 
to  a  descendant  of  one 
of  the  favoured  Norman 
followers   of    Duke  Wil- 
liam, whose  name  in  the 
ancient  list   is   given   as 
Ferers.     Robert  P^errars 
was  settled  in  Derbyshire,  and  in  3  Stephen  (i  137)  was  created  the  first  Earl  P'errars 
(de  Ferrariis),  and  his  son  Walchelin,  by  Margaret,  daughter  of  William  Peverel 
of  the  Peak,  held  the  barony  of  Oakham  by  tenure  of  the  service  of  a  knight's  fee 
and  a  half.     He  was,  doubtless,  the  founder  of  the  Castle,  and  of  the  Hall,  as 
it  now  exists,  between  the  years  1180-90.     In  1191   he  accompanied  his   King, 
Coeur  de  Lion,  to  the  Holy  Land,  and  was  at  the  siege  of  Acre,  and,  dying  in  that 
country,  was  succeeded  in  1201  by  his  son   Hugh,  who  paid  300  marks  to  the 
King  for  permission  to  marry  the  daughter  and  heir  of  Hugh  de  Say,  of  Richard's 
Castle,  Hereford.     All  the  lands,  however,  which  he  thus  accjuired  were  passed  by 
King  John  to  the  Cantilupes.     Hugh  de  Ferrars  dying  without  issue,  his  only  sister, 
Isabella,  wife  of  Roger,  Lord  Mortimer,  became  his  heir,  and  they  obtained  seisin  of 
Oakham  by  payment  of  700  marks  and  seven  palfreys  or  horses.  Alortimer's  second 
son  by  Isabella,  Robert,  obtained  these  lands  and  bequeathed  them  to  his  widow, 
Margaret,  and  in  43  Henry  III.  (1259)  her  other  estates  came  to  her  son,  Hugh  de 
Mortimer  ;  but  Oakham  was  granted  to  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  the  King's 
brother,  whose  son  Edmund  succeeded  to  the  castle  of  Oakham  in  1272  and  died 


OAKHAM 


RUTLANDSHIRE  423 

in  1300.  His  widow,  Marjjaret,  continued  to  enjoy  tiic-  mcDine  from  Oakham, 
thoiigli  she  was  divorced  from  lier  luisband,  and  was  afterwards  married  to  I'lers 
Gaveston  ;  at  her  death  it  reverted  to  the  Crown,  when,  bv  an  inquisition  of 
1300,  the  annual  value  of  the  castle  and  manor  was  onlv_^'ii2  iXs.  iii/. ;  there 
was  then  a  garden,  with  stews,  a  windmill  and  a  watermill,  a  park  of  100  acres, 
called  Flytterys,  and  a  little  park  of  40  acres.  In  i3::i  Kdward  II.  conferred  the 
place  on  his  brother  Edmund,  Earl  of  Kent,  who,  at  the  insti(>atioii  of  Mortimer, 
was  executed  at  Winchester  in  1330  for  conspirinjj  to  restore  his  dethroned 
brother,  supposinj,'  him  to  be  still  alive  ;  his  lands  then  revertinjj  to  the  Kinj;, 
were  j^ranted  to  William  de  Bohun,  Earl  of  Northampton,  and  his  heirs.  His  son, 
Humphrey,  however,  left  only  two  dauj^hters,  one  of  whom,  Eleanor,  became  the 
wife  of  Thomas,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  si.xth  son  of  Edward  III.,  and  the  other, 
Mary,  was  wife  of  Henry  of  Boli!if<broke,  afterwards  Henry  IV.;  so  the  estate 
a>,'ain  vested  in  the  Crown.  Richard  II.  j^ave  it  to  his  favourite,  Robert  de  Vere, 
Earl  of  Oxford,  who,  giving  offence  to  the  nobility,  was  banished,  and  his  lands 
were  forfeited,  when  Oakham  was  given  to  his  greatest  enemv,  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  who  died  .<./>.  {sir  Pi,i:siiv,  EssKX).  Then  the  castle  and  manor  were 
bestowed  on  Edward,  Earl  of  Rutland,  eldest  son  of  Edmund  Umglev,  Duke  of 
York,  the  fifth  son  of  Edward  111.,  who  died  at  Agincourt  1415.  Portions  of 
the  e>tate  were  also  alienated,  the  castle  and  manor  being  given  to  Hiimplircv 
Stafford,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  whose  mother  .Anne  was  the  heiress  of  Thomas, 
Duke  of  Gloucester.  After  his  death  at  the  battle  of  Northampton  (1459),  his 
widow,  and,  after  her,  his  son,  held  Oakham  till  he  was  beheaded  by  Richard  III.,  who 
gave  it  to  Henry  de  Grey,  Lord  Codnor,  till  Stafford's  son,  Edward,  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham, recovered  the  estates.  He  was,  however,  beheaded,  through  the  intluence 
of  Wolsey  {see  Thoknhiry,  Gl.orCESTERSHiRK),  in  1521,  and  this  place  was 
granted  to  Thomas  Cromwell,  created  Baron  Oakham  (some  say  Wimbledon), 
onlv  to  be  executed  in  his  turn;  but  his  son  was  allowed  to  succeed,  and  (Oakham 
continued  with  them  for  three  generations  further,  till,  at  the  close  of  Elizabeth's 
reign.  Lord  Cromwell  had  licence  to  sell  it  to  Sir  John  Harrington,  whose  son 
parted  with  it  to  George  V'illiers,  the  profligate  Duke  of  Buckingham.  He  resold 
it  to  Daniel,  I'"arl  of  Nottingham,  afterwards  Earl  of  Winchilsea,  from  whom  it 
descended  to  Daniel  Finch,  of  Burley,  in  1x4s. 

Details  of  the  history  and  succession  of  this  castle  and  manor  may  Inr  dry- 
reading,  but  it  is  striking  to  observe  that  of  the  owners  and  occupiers  of  this 
small  property,  in  a  remote  part  of  an  insignilicant  county,  no  less  than 
eight  of  them  died  violent  deaths,  live  being  beheaded.  There  is  a  singular 
custom  connecting  this  lordship  with  its  ancient  possessors,  the  P-arls  F'errars, 
who,  being  originally  identitied  with  the  farriers  department  of  Duke  William's 
army,  adopted  as  their  armorial  device  a  horseshoe,  and  the  s;ime  has  since 
been  in  use  by  all  descendants  of  their  family,  under  all  varieties  of  spelling. 
The  possessor  of  Oakham  had  the  right  to  demand  a  horseshoe  from  every  jxrcr 


424  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

who  passed  there  for  tlie  first  time,  and  his  haiht'f  had  power  to  stop  liorses  and 
carriages  until  tliis  service  was  performed,  wlien  the  shoe  was  nailed  on  the  castle 
gate.  Naturally  the  matter  was  compounded  for  by  a  money  payment,  and  a 
horseshoe,  made  large  or  small  according  to  the  sum  received,  was  affixed  with 
the  donor's  name  and  title  engraved.  A  curious  collection  is  to  be  seen  here  : 
horseshoes  of  all  sizes,  from  those  of  exaggerated  dimensions  to  the  size  of  a  toy 
horse,  and  mostlv  gilt,  are  shown  ;  one  very  splendid  one  being  left  by  the  Duke 
of  York  in  1788. 

Regarding  the  castle,  an  inquisition  held  in  1340  reports  thus:  "There  is  at 
Oakham  a  castle  well  walled,  and  in  that  castle  are,  i  hall,  4  chambers,  i  kitchen, 
2  stables,  i  grange  for  hay,  i  house  for  prisoners,  i  chamber  for  the  porter, 
I  drawbridge  with  iron  chains,  and  the  castle  contains  within  its  walls  by 
estimation  2  acres  of  land."  Thus  it  appears  that  the  accommodation  of  the 
castle  was  not  verv  great,  and  that  the  hall,  which  is  happily  preserved  to  our  day 
in  perfect  condition,  was  the  great  feature  of  the  place.  There  is  an  excellent 
account  of  the  hall,  bv  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Hartshorne,  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the 
Aniuvoloiiicdl  Jounuil,  with  illustrations.  It  is  there  called  the  most  perfect 
specimen  of  domestic  architecture  of  the  twelfth  century  existing  in  any  country, 
its  style  being  a  transition  from  Norman  to  Early  English,  of  which  there  is  no 
other  record. 

The  dimensions  of  the  hall  are  65  feet  by  43  feet,  and  it  is  divided  by  two  rows 
of  pillars  and  arches  into  a  nave  and  two  aisles,  like  a  church,  in  a  way  that  was 
not  unusual,  and  of  which  the  hall  of  St.  Stephen  at  Winchester  is  another  fine 
example  ;  the  hall  at  Fotheringhay,  which  witnessed  the  trial  and  execution  of 
Mary  Stuart,  was  another.  The  arches  rise  from  highly  enriched  capitals,  having 
human  heads  and  animals  admirably  executed.  One  of  the  corbel  stones  from 
which  springs  one  of  the  end  arches  is  sculptured  with  a  small  arch  supported  by 
an  animal,  which  again  is  supported  by  the  heads  of  Henry  II.  and  his  Queen. 
The  ends  are  lofty  gables,  and  the  entrance  was  originally  at  the  E.  end  of  the  S. 
side,  with  another  door  at  the  N.W.  There  are  four  windows  on  each  side, 
which  partake  of  the  two  styles,  having  pointed  lights  under  circular  arches,  with 
dog-tooth  ornaments.  The  stone  used  is  a  fine-grained,  shelly  oolite  from 
Clipsham,  which  retains  in  the  elaborate  ornamentation  almost  its  original  sharp- 
ness. The  ancient  roof  was  perhaps  semi-circular  ;  the  oldest  part  of  what 
remains  is  the  work  of  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  also  made  the  gatewav. 

The  buildings  of  the  hall  and  castle,  being  long  the  only  fortress  in  the  county, 
stood  in  a  rounded  inner  ward,  enclosed  by  a  bank  and  wall,  perhaps  having  in 
the  S.E.  angle  a  tower;  outside  this  is  an  oblong  outer  ward  or  court,  surrounded 
by  a  deep  ditch.  On  the  inside  walls  are  displayed  more  than  one  hundred 
horseshoes— evidences  of  the  old  custom— some  of  them  gilt  and  encircled  with  a 
coronet,  the  earliest  being  from  Baptist,  Earl  of  Gainsborough,  in  1694.  The 
county  assizes  are  held  in  the  old  hall. 


aOMLKlo.N 


Xincolnsbiic 


ASLACKP>Y 

SnrTH  of  Sleafoid,  on  the  banks  of  a  stream,  2A  miles  from  Kippinj^ale 
station,  was  a  preceptory  of  Templars,  as  at  Temple  Hruers, 
one  of  the  live  established  by  the  Knights  Templars  in  this  county, 
A.I).  11S5.  Ail  that  remains  of  the  institution  is  a  small  square  tower 
ol  two  storeys,  embattled,  and  having  a  maehicolated  parapet.  Tlie  arms 
of  the  Temple  and  of  the  founder,  I)e  Rye,  are  to  be  seen  on  the  lower  storey, 
which  is  vaulted  and  groined,  with  eight  ribs  meeting  on  a  boss,  whereon  arc  eight 
shields  bearing  coats  of  arms.  Beneath  this  crypt  was  a  subterranean  pass;ige 
leading  to  the  church,  but  now  tilled  in. 

Near  the  ciuirch  once  stood  a  castle,  as  early  as  the  C()ni|uest,  wiucii  Camden 
.says  belonged  to  the  Wake  family.  It  has  quite  disappeared,  except  the  earth- 
works, which  remain  nearly  entire  on  the  W.  Lcland  says  that  at  his  time  "  tiicre 
appeared  great  ditches  and  the  dunjon  hill  at  the  end  t>f  the  priory."  The  area 
contained  within  the  outer  moat  is  about  8  acres  ;  and  between  tiiis  moat  and  tiie 
ditch  are  some  verj'  large  irregular  works  on  the  X.  and  S.  sides,  consisting  of 
raised  banks,  20  yards  long  by  10,  witii  a  ditch  between  them. 

vol..  I.  3  H 


426  CASTLES    OF    ENGLAND 

BOLINGBROKE   {non-cxistcnt) 

ABOUT  5  miles  to  the  E.  of  Spilshy,  in  a  iiollow  among  steep  hills,  where  a 
stream  rises  which  flows  into  the  Witham,  are  a  few  rehcs  of  the  castle 
built  in  the  early  part  of  Stephen's  reign  by  William  de  Romara,  Earl  of  Lincoln 
{sec  Lincoln).  It  stood  at  a  short  distance  S.  of  the  church,  which  suffered  much 
in  consequence  of  this  proximity  during  the  siege  of  the  castle  in  the  seventeenth 
century. 

The  manor  was  owned  by  Lucia,  the  widow  of  Roger  de  Romara,  and  the 
sister  and  heiress  of  Morcar,  the  Saxon  Earl  of  Northumberland  and  Lincolnshire ; 
she  surrendered  it  to  King  Henry  1.  on  her  second  marriage  to  Ranulph,  Earl 
of  Chester,  in  return  for  this  dignity ;  but  in  his  twenty-second  year  Henry  restored 
the  lands  to  William  de  Romara,  her  son  by  her  first  husband,  investing  him  also 
with  the  earldom  of  Lincoln.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  castle,  which  he  at  one 
time  held  in  defence  of  the  Empress  Maud  against  King  Stephen.  His  lands  and 
this  stronghold  descended  to  his  grandson,  William,  but  on  his  dying  s.p.,  they 
passed  to  Gilbert  de  Gaunt,  the  husband  of  Hawise,  the  daughter  of  the  former  de 
Romara,  when  he  likewise  became  Earl  of  Lincoln  in  right  of  his  wife.  He  died 
2  Henry  II.,  leaving  two  daughters,  Alice  and  Gunnora,  the  former  of  whom 
married  Simon  de  St.  Liz,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  who  also  obtained  through  his 
wife  the  earldom  of  Lincoln  and  this  property.  Both  the  sisters,  however,  died 
s.p.,  and  their  uncle,  Robert  de  Gaunt,  became  their  heir,  whose  son  opposing 
Henry  III.,  his  estates  were  seized  and  conferred  by  the  King  upon  Ranulph  de 
Meschines,  or  de  Blundeville,  Earl  of  Chester,  who  was  descended  from  the 
Romaras.  He  also  dying  without  male  issue,  his  lands  went  by  marriage  to  John 
de  Lacy,  whose  grandson  Henry  succeeded  to  this  manor  and  the  earldom  of 
Lincoln. 

Henry  de  Lacy  is  described  as  an  illustrious  statesman  and  soldier,  "  in  omni 
regno  ornatissimus  ; "  but  he  lost  his  sons  during  his  life,  and  bequeathed  all  his 
possessions  to  Edmund  Plantagenet,  the  brother  of  Edward  I.,  whose  son  Thomas, 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  married  Alice  de  Lacy,  his  daughter  and  heiress,  and  so 
inherited  Bolingbroke.  This  earl,  Thomas,  being,  however,  beheaded  after  the 
rout  of  Boroughbridge,  by  Edward  II.,  the  Lacy  estates  were  conferred  on  his 
favourite,  Hugh  Despencer;  but  in  the  next  reign  his  brother,  Henry,  on  the  death 
of  the  Countess  Alice,  who  bore  an  indifferent  character,  procured  from  Parliament 
his  late  brother's  estates.  He  left  two  daughters,  Maud  and  Blanche,  the  latter  of 
whom  married  John  of  Gaunt,  fifth  son  of  Edward  III.,  made  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
and  she  in  turn  inherited  the  whole  of  the  vast  estates  of  the  de  Lacys,  including 
this  castle,  at  which  she  and  her  husband  resided,  and  where  was  born  her  son, 
Henry,  afterwards  Henry  IV.,  who  from  this  place  of  his  birth  was  called  Henry 
of  Bolingbroke.  Thenceforth  the  castle  and  lands  were  absorbed  into  the  Duchy 
of  Lancaster,  and  became  Royal  property. 


LINCOLNSHIRE  4^7 

Of  the  once  foriniduhli;  fortress  there  remain  now  only  a  few  mounds  and 
some  foundation  courses,  with  the  encircling  moat  to  sliow  where  it  stood.  The 
position  in  early  times,  secluded  among  the  hills,  with  only  a  single  opening  to  the 
level  country  on  the  S.W.,  was  a  strong  one,  and  we  have  fortunately  u  description 
of  the  castle  in  a  Harleian  MS.  (No.  6829,  p.  162),  written  bv  (Jervxse  Holies,  in 
whose  time  the  fabric  was  much  decayed,  from  being  built  of  a  soft  crumbling 
sandstone.  He  says  :  "As  for  the  frame  of  the  building,  it  lieth  within  a  sipiare 
area  within  the  walls  contayning  about  an  acre  and  a  half ;  the  building  is  verj- 
unifornie.  It  hath  four  strong  forts  or  ramparts,  wherein  are  many  rooms  and 
lodgings  :  the  passage  from  one  to  another  lying  upon  the  walles,  which  arc 
embattled  about.  There  be  likewise  two  watch  towers  all  covered  with  lead.  If 
all  the  roomes  in  it  were  repayred,  and  furnished  as  it  seems  in  former  tymes  they 
have  bin,  it  were  capable  t(j  receyve  a  very  great  prince  with  all  his  trayne.  The 
entrance  to  it  is  very  stately  over  a  fair  drawbridge  ;  the  gatehouse  a  very 
uniforme  and  strong  building.  Next  within  the  porter's  lodge  is  a  payre  of  low 
stayres  which  goe  down  into  a  dimgeon,  in  which  some  relii.|ues  are  to  he  seen  of 
a  prison  house.  Other  2  prisons  more  are  on  either  ^ide.  There  Ixr  certaine 
rooms  within  tin-  castle  (built  by  Oueen  Elizabeth,  of  freestone)  amongst  which  is 
a  fayre  great  chamber  with  other  lodgings."  And  then  he  tells  how  the  place  is 
"haunted  by  a  certaine  spirit  in  the  likeness  of  a  hare."  After  the  improve- 
ments and  additions  elfecled  by  Elizabeth  it  continued  a  place  of  importance  till 
the  seventeenth  century,  when,  cliiring  the  Civil  War,  the  castle  was  held  strongly 
for  the  King.  In  1643,  on  October  <;,  the  Earl  of  Manchester,  advancing  into 
these  parts  with  a  large  body  of  troops  from  Boston,  in  support  of  Fairfa.x  and 
Cromwell,  came  before  Bolingbroke  and  summoned  the  castle;  but  he  received 
a  reply  that,  "  Bugbear  words  must  not  win  a  castle,  nor  should  make  them  quit 
the  place,"  and  at  once  drew  out  his  force  and,  opening  approaches  against  the 
place,  commenced  a  siege.  The  Parliamentary  troops  occupied  the  church, 
and  a  mortar  was  mounted  upon  the  church  tower  against  the  fortress.  This 
drew  on  the  fabric  tiie  lire  of  the  garrison,  by  which  the  church  was  greatly 
damaged,  so  that  of  it  only  the  tower  and  nave  remain. 

But  the  besiegers  were  soon  interrupted  by  the  movements  of  the  Royalist 
army  of  Horncastle,  and  had  to  break  up  from  Bolingbroke,  when  occurred  the 
decisive  light  of  Winceby,  near  by  on  the  W.,  wherein  the  King's  army  was  beaten 
and  routed.  The  castle  of  Bolingbroke  was  at  once  abandoned,  and  the  enemy 
entering  found  200  horses  in  the  stables,  their  troopers  havuig  lied. 

Then  the  old  stronghold  was  dismantled  and  soon  fell  into  utter  ruin.  For 
many  years  part  of  a  circular  tower,  said  to  belong  to  the  gateht)usf,  continued 
standing,  but  in  1S15  this  last  fragment  of  the  castle  fell  to  the  ground.  (It  is 
shown  in  Weir's  "Horncastle,"  p.  405.)  In  tlu-  K  m.iv  br  sllii  tlit-  liiIhih  hm»nts 
opened  by  Lord  Manchester  against  the  castle. 


428  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

BOURN  (non-existent) 

THIS  ancient  town,  so  called  from  a  copious  spring  S.E.  of  the  church,  now- 
called  St.  Peter's  Pool,  lies  about  six  miles  N.N.E.  of  Stamford,  in  the  flat 
land  of  the  dykes  ;  it  is  a  land  of  running  water,  of  springs,  bnniiicii  and 
burns.  Bourn  is  said,  on  slight  authority,  to  have  been  the  birthplace  of  the 
Saxon  hero,  Hereward  the  Wake,  as  it  was  actually,  five  hundred  years  later,  of 
another  great  Englishman,  Cecil,  Lord  Burleigh. 

On  the  left  of  the  Station  Road  is  the  site  of  this  once  famous  castle,  of  which 
nought  now  remains  save  some  green  grass-covered  mounds,  where  now  stands 
the  workhouse. 

In  the  Confessor's  time  it  belonged  to  Leofric,  Earl  of  Mercia,  who  has  wrongly 
been  called  the  father  of  Hereward,  since  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of 
another  Leofric,  the  Thane  of  Bourn,  and  Edgiva,  or  Godiva,  of  Coventry  fame. 
His  story  has  been  well  told  by  Kingsley,  and  the  place,  with  its  forest  and  fen, 
graphically  described. 

A  small  artificial  mound,  with  taint  traces  of  an  outer  and  an  inner  moat,  and 
one  or  two  loopholed  stones  built  into  a  neighbouring  barn,  are  now  the  sole  relics 
of  this  ancient  castle  of  Bourn.  But  there  was  a  keep  upon  the  mound  flanked 
by  four  angle  turrets,  the  usual  Norman  citadel,  commanding  an  extensive  view 
over  the  fen  land,  and  surrounded  by  a  deep  foss  crossed  by  a  drawbridge  ;  within 
were  the  hall  and  chief  apartments,  and  on  the  S.  side  lodgings  for  the  oi^cers 
and  household ;  below  were  a  prison  and  cellars.  The  mound  was  surrounded 
by  its  own  moat,  branching  from  that  which,  in  a  rectangular  trace,  protected  the 
inner  bailey. 

Excavations  have  shown  that  the  entrance  was  guarded  by  an  oblong  gate- 
house of  1 64  feet  frontage,  having  a  round-headed  gateway  between  two  circular 
flanking  towers,  30  feet  high,  and  with  embattled  parapets.  In  front  of  this  was 
a  drawbridge,  the  foundations  of  which  were  laid  open  some  thirty-five  years  ago, 
and  tiie  ditch  had  a  width  of  44  feet.  The  area  of  the  whole  work  enclosed  by 
the  outer  moat  is  about  eight  acres. 

Hereward,  according  to  the  Chronicle  of  John  of  Peterborough,  earned  his 
soubriquet  of  "  The  Wake  "  from  the  alertness  and  ability  with  which  he  met  and 
baffled  the  Normans.  We  are  told  that  the  Red  King  bestowed  this  manor 
upon  Baldwin  FitzGilbert,  Count  of  Brienne,  and  it  continued  in  that  fanuly  till 
the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century,  when  the  marriage  of  Emma,  the  daughter  of 
Baldwin's  grandson,  with  Hugh  Wach,  or  Wake,  perhaps  a  Fleming,  brought 
Bourn  mto  that  family.  The  second  Baldwin,  who  founded  Bourn  Abbey  in 
1 158,  led  part  of  Stephen's  forces  at  the  battle  of  Lincoln,  and  shared  his  master's 
captivity.  Thomas,  third  Baron  Wake,  and  the  sixth  in  descent  from  Emma  and 
Hugh  Wach,  married  Blanche  Plantagenet,  great  granddaughter  of  Henry  III., 
and    in    1330   entertained,    at    his    castle    of    Bourn,    his    wife's    Royal    cousin, 


LINCOI.XSHIRI-.  429 

Pvdwiiid  111.  Mari^aret,  tlic  heir  of  Tlioiiia^,  liaroii  Wake,  iiiarricd  Kcliiuiiicl  cjt 
Woodstock,  Karl  of  Kent,  and  son  of  Kduard  !.,  bs'  his  second  Queen,  Margaret  of 
France,  and  her  granddaughter  was  Joan,  "The  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,"  mother  of 
Richard  11.  She  bein}«  sole  heiress,  Bourn  passed  into  the  family  of  Sir  Thomxs 
Holland,  her  first  husband,  and  their  son,  Thomas  Holland,  succeeded  to  his 
mother's  barony  of  Bourn.  This  second  fc^arl  of  Kent  was  buried  here  in  lyjj, 
as  was  also  his  son,  Kduard,  killed  in  iirittany.  (Reports  of  Arcliitectural 
Societies.)  At  Bourn  resided,  in  1536,  Sir  John  Tiiimbleby,  wiio  was  much 
concerned  in  the  Lincolnshire  insurrection  of  that  year  in  defence  of  the  old  faith. 
In  Kciand's  time,  however,  only  "  j>rete  ditches"  and  the  "  Diuijieon  lull  " 
remained;  but  Peak,  in  his  undated  MS.,  before  that  time,  speaks  of  a  tall 
quadranj;ular  tower,  with  square  turrets  at  the  angles,  standing  on  a  mound, 
containing  "  halle,  chaniberes,  and  houses  of  oltice  for  ve  lord  and  his  traine," 
and  describes  the  gatehouse  of  the  inner  ward.  In  the  Parliamentary  War  a 
garrison   was  placed  liere,  in  the  i;utliwork  defences. 

1'^"!"IIA  M    (non-exislait) 

THIS  village  is  eight  miles  W.  of  Bourn,  and  nine  N.X.W.  of  Stamford,  at  a 
point  where  three  valleys  meet,  and  above  the  village,  on  a  low,  rcjunded 
spur  of  the  hill,  stood  tiiis  castle  of  Bythani.  In  the  last  Sa.xon  days  it  was  the 
property  of  Morcar,  P2arl  of  Northumberland,  the  brother-in-law  of  King  HaroUl, 
and  an  Knglish  timber  cattle  undoubtedly  stood  here  at  tiial  time.  In  10S5  the 
place  had  become  the  possession  of  Drogo  de  Brewere,  one  of  the  Conqueror's 
Flemish  followers,  who,  having  killed  his  wife,  thought  it  best  to  (lee  back  to 
Flanders  ;  then  it  was  gianted  to  Odo,  P2arl  of  Albemarle  and  Holderness,  and 
after  him  to  his  son  Stephen,  as  being  a  wheat-bearing  estate,  for  the  support  of 
his  son  William,  afterwards  called  "William  leGros"  (.str  SCAKlU)K't)iiili).  This 
Stephen  supported  the  Red  King,  and  subsequently  went  to  the  Holy  Land  ;  he 
married  Hawise,  daughter  of  Kalph  de  Mortimer,  and  was  succeeded  by  William 
le  Gros,  who  fought  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard  in  1 1 3S,  and  at  Lincoln  with 
Stephen.  He  died  i  \~i),  leaving  two  daughters  :  the  elder,  Hawise,  who  married, 
lust,  William  de  Mandeville,  Karl  of  Kssex  ;  secondly,  William  de  Fortibus  ;  and, 
thirdly,  Baldwin  de  Bethune,  Karl  of  Wight,  all  of  whom  succeeded,  jure  n.xoris, 
to  the  Karldom  of  .Albemarle,  the  last  dying  in  121 2,  when  the  widow  paid  a  line 
of  5000  marks  to  King  John  in  order  that  her  son  by  her  second  husband  should 
succeed,  and  that  she  should  not  be  married  again. 

Iler  first  husband,  de  Mandeville, granted  the  manor  of  Bytham  to  one  William 
de  Colvile,  in  1180  or  iiyo,  but  it  was  taken  from  him  in  1216  by  the  King,  and 
given  to  his  adherent  William  de  Fortibus,  Karl  of  .Albemarle,  the  son  of  Hawise 
by  her  second  husband,  together  with  the  castles  of  Rockuigham  and  Mount 
Sorrel.     (Salveia.)     liut  this  young  noble  turned  out  a  most  vicious  aiul  turbulent 


430  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

character,  and  wrouoht  much  evil  in  the  land,  living  by  brigandage  and  commit- 
ting outrages  of  all  sorts  from  his  strongholds,  which  brought  upon  him  excom- 
munication ;  and  in  1220  the  Regent  Pembroke  with  the  young  King  had  to  take 
in  hand  his  repression.  Raising  a  strong  force  the  King  and  Regent  marched 
northwards  and  appeared  before  the  castles  of  Rockingham  and  Mount  Sorrel 
demanding  their  surrender,  when  Albemarle,  not  being  prepared  for  resistance, 
was  forced  to  deliver  them  up.  But  at  Christmas  in  that  year,  proceeding  to 
Bvtham,  he  strengthened  the  defences  of  this  fortress,  and  then,  having  pillaged 
the  countrv  round,  stored  it  with  provisions  and  all  things  necessary  for  standing 
a  siege.  Next  he  went  to  Fotheringhay  Castle  and  took  possession  of  it  in  its 
owner's  absence,  and  placing  a  garrison  in  it  returned  to  his  castle  of  Bytham. 
News  of  these  exploits  reaching  the  King,  Henry,  in  January  1221  assembled  a 
powerful  force  and  marched  to  reduce  Bytham.  All  sorts  of  warlike  stores  and 
machines  were  called  for  and  sent  into  Lincolnshire  :  mangonells  and  petrarias 
for  casting  stones  and  darts  from  the  store  in  the  vaults  of  St.  Paul's  in  London  ; 
balistas  and  targets,  ropes  and  timber,  were  sent  from  Nottingham  and  Lynn  to 
Bvtham,  together  with  a  body  of  slingers,  carpenters,  and  miners  for  carrying  out 
the  siege. 

On  February  9  Henry  and  his  great  barons  with  their  forces  arrived  at 
Bytham  and  commenced  to  besiege  the  castle.  But  William  de  Fortibus  was  not 
fool  enough  to  be  found  there  ;  he  had  already  fled  to  Yorkshire,  leaving-  his 
castellan  to  carry  on  the  defence  of  his  castle.  Matthew  Paris  says  that  the 
siege  lasted  only  two  davs,  but  since  the  Close  Rolls  show  that  the  King  was 
ordering  stores  and  ropes  on  February  12,  and  did  not  leave  Bytham  till  the 
1 8th,  it  seems  likely  that  the  siege  lasted  till  nearly  that  date,  or  about  a  week, 
when,  the  wall  being  breached,  the  garrison  surrendered,  and  were  sent  in  fetters 
to  London. 

The  artful  Earl,  after  all,  with  the  friendly  help  of  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
managed,  on  submission  to  the  King,  to  receive  a  full  pardon,  but  Bytham  Castle 
was  burnt  and  destroyed.  Among  the  royal  payments  is  one  to  John  de  Standon 
and  his  miners  of  ly.  8(1.  "  for  throwing  down  the  castle  of  Bytham."  This 
infamous  young  earl  died  in  the  Mediterranean  on  his  way  to  the  Holy  Land  in 
i24r. 

William  de  Colvile,  the  former  grantee  from  de  Mandeville,  now  appears  again 
on  the  scene  as  once  more  owning  Bytham,  and  it  would  seem  that  he  had 
rebuilt  or  repaired  the  dismantled  castle  sufficiently  to  live  in,  since  Camden 
says  it  became  the  head  of  the  barony  of  Colvile,  which  family  held  it  until  the 
last  Colvile  died  s.p.  after  1370,  when  the  property  was  divided  between  the 
collateral  heirs,  the  Bassets  and  Gernons. 

By  the  marriage  of  Margaret,  daughter  of  Ralph,  Lord  Basset,  with  John 
Bohun,  ninth  Earl  of  Hereford,  Bytham  was  conveyed  to  that  illustrious  family, 
and  was  inherited  by  the  Countess  of  Hereford,  whose  younger  daughter.  Lady 


LINCOLNSHIRE 


43' 


Mary,  dyinj^  in  1394,  d'^cd  twcnty-tuiir,  left  six  younj»  tliildruu,  by  Hciirv  of 
Holingliroku,  afterwards  King  Henry  IV'.,  the  four  younger  of  whom  were 
broiiglit  lip  by  their  grandmother  at  Hytliam. 

Ill  1529,  Lord  Hussey  owned  tliis  property,  but  being  attainted  for  his  share  in 
the  rebellion  called  the  "  Pilgrimage  of  CJrace  "  in  1537,  his  lands  were  confiscated 
by  the  Crown,  and  were  by  Henry  V'lII.  granted  to  John  Russell,  afterwards  Earl 


..  ^-'.ftf'/- 


Crass 


BYTHAM 


of  Bedford.  After  this,  there  was  much  subdivision  of  the  lands,  which  were  held 
by  many  families.  In  1779,  Bytliam  became  the  property  of  Lord  Brownlow 
Bertie,  and  soon  after  it  was  owned  by  Sir  Gilbert  Heathcote,  whose  familv  have, 
since  17X5,  possessed  the  site  of  this  ancient  fortress. 

Tile  Castle  Hill  is  a  rounded  eminence  immediately  above  the  village,  scarped 
for  defence  on  the  S.  and  in  other  parts  ;  it  is  levelled  on  the  top,  and  the  whole 
E.  side  of  the  hill  is  defended  by  a  deep  ditcli,  40  feet  broatl,  from  the  scarped 
face  on  the  S.  to  where  on  the  \.  a  strong  wall  continued  the  defence  round  to 
the  moat,  which  flowed  from  the  N.W.  to  the  S.,  and  provided  a  lake,  or 
inundati(jn,  to  protect  these  sides,  ending  in  a  lisli-jiond  Soo  feet  long. 

The  castle  wall,  with    mur.il  towers,  stretched   around  tiie  brow  of  the  hill 


432  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

above  the  moat,  and  probably  was  continued  on  the  crest  of  tlie  rampart,  which 
backed  tlie  E.  ditch.  The  entrance  was  on  the  S.W.  side,  but  of  it  nothing 
remains,  and  thence  tlie  approach  nuist  have  passed  by  two  drawbridges  over  the 
double  moats,  which,  with  walls,  protected  the  inner  ward  on  the  S.  The  area 
of  the  castle  yard,  on  the  summit,  is  174  feet  square,  with  an  elevation  of  50  feet, 
and  detached  from  it  on  the  E.,  on  a  separate  small  mound  encircled  by  a  ditch, 
was  the  round  keep  tower,  54  feet  in  diameter,  the  approach  to  which  was  by  a 
small  causeway. 

In  1870,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wild  carried  out  some  excavations  near  the  S.E.  corner 
of  the  inner  ward,  where  a  passage  and  fiight  of  stairs,  of  strong  masonry,  weie 
found,  together  with  the  archways,  walls,  and  doorways,  of  perhaps  the  Norman 
castle  buildings.  The  state  of  the  stonework  and  the  discovery  of  charred  timbers 
showed  that  the  castle  had  been  burnt. 

As  this  castle  was  the  home  of  the  Colviles  till  1390,  and  was,  inunediately  after, 
the  iitting  residence  of  a  royal  family,  the  destruction  here  shown  us  was  probably 
effected,  in  part,  during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses  ;  since,  in  1542,  Leland  visiting  the 
place,  says  :  "  At  Castell  Bitham  yet  remain  great  walls  of  buildings,"  the  castle 
beinjj  then  in  ruins.     The  Earl  of  Ancaster  is  lord  of  the  manor. 


'& 


CARLTON   (non-cxisteut) 

SIX  and  a  half  miles  S.W.  of  Louth  (temp.  Henry  1.)  was  the  head  of  the 
barony  of  Sir  Hugh  Barde,  who  is  said  to  have  slain  a  dragon  which 
devastated  the  neighbourhood  ;  he  carried  its  head  to  the  King,  who  changed  his 
name  to  Bardolph.  In  this  parish  are  three  artificial  earth-mounds,  each 
surrounded  by  a  ditch,  and  on  one  of  them  the  baronial  castle  of  Sir  Hugh  is 
alleged  to  have  stood.  They  are  covered  with  trees,  and  occupy  about  five  acres 
of  land.  On  the  S.  and  E.  of  the  village  is  an  ancient  earthen  rampart,  a  mile  in 
length,  12  feet  wide  and  5  feet  high. 

GRANTHAM    (non-existent) 

THIS  is  a  considerable  town  of  ancient  origin,  Iving  on  the  Roman  military 
road  to  the  North,  called  the  Hermen  Street,  on  the  edge  of  Leicestershire, 
where  the  two  counties  are  separated  by  the  Witham  ;  and  near  the  point  at. 
which  a  small  stream,  called  the  Mowbeck,  falls  into  the  Witham,  formerly  stood  a 
castle,  which  has  entirely  disappeared,  the  only  evidence  of  its  past  existence 
being  a  long  street,  called  the  Castle  Gate.  The  manor  was  a  royal  demesne  in 
the  Confessor's  time,  and  was  continued  as  the  property  of  Matilda,  the  Queen  of 
William  I.  She  gave  it  to  her  chamberlain,  de  Tankerville,  and  it  afterwards 
belonged  to  the  Albini  family  of  Belvoir. 

In  1206,  King  John  gave  the  town  and  soke  to  William,  Earl  Warren,  and  in 


LINCOLNSHIRE  433 

his  f:imily  it  ruinaiiicd  till  1338,  when  William  dc  Bolniii,  K;irl  ui  Norihumpton, 
obtained  the  place,  and  at  his  death,  Edward  111.  gave  the  castle  tu  Ins  son, 
Edmund  of  Langley.  The  lordship  was  settled  on  Eli/aheth  of  York,  Queen  of 
Henry  VII.,  after  which  time  it  always  belonged  to  the  Queens  of  England,  down 
to  the  Restoration,  when  the  Crown  resumed  possession. 

There  seems  to  be  no  history  or  record  of  this  castle.  Grantiiam  w:is  once  a 
walled  town,  and  was  taken  and  held  for  Charles  I.  during  the  Civil  War.  De  Foe 
states  that  it  was  here  that  the  name  of  Oliver  Cromwell  was  first  heard  of — when, 
having  risen  from  the  command  of  a  troop  of  horse  to  that  of  a  regiment, 
he,  with  this,  defeated  at  Grantham  twenty-four  troops  of  Royalist  hor>e  and 
dragoons. 

GRIMSTHORPE  {chief) 

IN  the  village  of  Edenhani,  lour  miles  from  Hourn,  is  this  magnificent  seat  of 
the  Earl  of  Ancaster,  formerly  Lord  Willoughby  d'Eresby,  which  contains  a 
portion  of  an  early  fortress,  built  in  the  time  of  Henry  111.,  or  perhaps  in  that  of 
John.  This  is  the  S.E.  tower,  and  is  called  after  the  earlier  of  these  kings  ;  it  is 
built  somewhat  conically,  and  is  embattled  throughout  on  top,  with  a  winding 
stone  staircase  leading  to  a  vaulted  apartment. 

The  present  large  quadrangular  castle  was  chiefly  erected  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.,  and  has  no  pretension  to  being  a  fortress.  Leland  writes  that  the 
place  "  was  no  great  thing  afore  the  new  building  of  the  2nd  Court,  yet  was 
all  the  old  work  of  stone,  the  gatehouse  was  fair  strong,  the  walls  on  each 
side  of  it  embattled  :  there  is  also  a  great  ditch  about  the  house."  It  is  said 
to  have  been  hastily  built  by  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  to  entertain  his 
brother-in-law,  Henry  \'lll.,  in  one  of  his  progresses,  in  1541,  when  the  E.,  W., 
and  S.  fronts  were  erected,  which  had  turrets  at  the  angles.  The  place  had  been 
given  to  him  by  his  duchess,  whose  daughter  was  heir  of  the  last  Willoughbys, 
and  after  the  duke's  death  she  married  Richard  Bertie,  to  whose  posterity  if 
passed.  The  estate  came  to  Lord  (iwydir  by  his  wife  I'riscilla,  daughter  and 
co-heir  of  Peregrine,  Duke  of  Ancaster. 

The  Willoughby  family  derive  their  name  from  a  manor  near  .Mford,  dating 
from  the  Conquest.  About  1300,  Sir  William  de  Willoughby  married  the  heiress 
of  Baron  Bee  of  Eresby,  and  became  the  first  Lord  Willoughby  d'Eresby; 
William,  ninth  lord,  was  a  favourite  of  Henry  \'lll.,  who  granted  him  this  manor, 
part  of  the  forfeited  estate  of  Francis  Lord  Lovel,  after  the  battle  of  Stoke. 

The  N.  front  was  added  in  1723,  from  the  designs  of  Vanbrugh,  the  architect, 
whose  epitaph  declaimed  : 

"  Lie  heavy  on  him,  earth,  for  he 
Laid  many  a  hcav-y  load  on  thee." 

VOL.   I.  3  I 


434  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Grimstliorpe  stands  in  an  immense  park,  sixteen  miles  in  circumference,  and  may, 
with  its  ancestral  oaks  and  thorns,  he  counted  among  the  finest  seats  in  the  country. 

HUSSEY    TOWER   {minor) 

AT  Boston,  behind  the  Schoolfields,  200  yards  X.  of  St.  John's  Row.  A  red 
hrick  tower,  which  belonged  to  the  hall  of  Lord  Hussey,  who,  after  having 
long  been  the  favourite  of  Henry  VIII.,  was  beheaded  in  1539  for  his  complicity 
in  the  rising  of  1536,  called  the  "  Pilgrimage  of  Grace,"  against  the  suppression  of 
lesser  monasteries. 

KYME,  OR  RICHMOND  TOWER  {minor) 

TWO  miles  E.  from  Boston  is  a  brick  tower,  built  (cir.  1500)  and  first  held 
by  the  Rochford  family  from  the  Earls  of  Richmond  ;  afterwards  it  passed 
to  some  of  the  ancient  Kyme  family  (sec  South  Kyme).  It  contains  a  circular 
staircase  communicating  with  three  rooms  and  the  roof,  which  latter  is  covered 
with  lead,  and  has  an  embattled  parapet.  The  place  belongs  to  the  Dean  and 
Chapter  of  Westminster. 

LINCOLN  {chief) 

THE  two  great  Roman  roads,  the  Herman  Street,  running  in  an  almost 
straight  line  from  the  coast  of  Kent  to  the  North,  and  the  Foss,  from  the 
Dorsetshire  coast  to  Lincolnshire,  united  just  before  ascending  the  lofty  hill  over 
the  river  Witham,  upon  which  was  founded  the  Roman  castrum  and  town  of 
Lindum.  And  as  time  passed,  partly  from  this  passage  through  it  of  the  two 
main  highways,  partly  from  its  easy  water  traffic,  the  Saxon-English  town,  that 
filled  and  overflowed  the  old  Roman  camp,  so  throve  that,  at  the  date  of  the 
Conquest,  this  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  richest  and  most  populous  of  the  cities  of 
England,  and  a  chief  emporium  of  trade. 

During  the  first  year  of  his  Kingship,  William  I.  was  so  convinced  of  the 
disaftection  that  pervaded  the  country,  that  he  directed  four  castles  to  be  built  in 
the  land  :  one  at  York,  one  at  Hastings,  another  on  the  hill  of  Nottingham,  and 
coming  to  Lincoln  from  York,  he  fixed  on  the  crest  of  the  hill,  high  over  the 
town  and  its  river,  as  the  site  of  another  large  and  strong  fortress  to  dominate 
this  important  district.*     The  position  was,  as  is  so  often  the  case  with  Norman 

*  How  greatly  the  Conqueror  relied  on  his  castles  for  holding  the  land  is  shown  by 
Lanfranc's  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Hereford  (quoted  by  Harrod),  given  in  Ellis's  "  Original  Letters" 
(third  series,  vol.  i.)  :  "  et  nos  omnes,  sicut  fideles  suos,  in  quibus  nunquam  fiduciam  habet,  et 
mandat  ut  quantum  possumus  curam  habeanius  de  castelhs  suis,  ne,  quod  Deus  avertat, 
inimicis  suis  tradantur." 


LINXOLXSHIKE 


435 


castles,  notliiiif^  more  tlian  what  the  Saxons  liad  chosen  in;ii)v  aj^o  lu-torc  for 
their  citadel  and  burh,  which  they  had  here  formed  within  the  S.W.  quarter  of 
the  old  castrum,  by  sinroiinding  its  four  sides  with  a  hroad  and  deep  ditch,  and 
pilinj,'  lip  the  earth  from  the  cuttings  in  a  mighty  mound,  and  in  a  strong  earthen 
rampart  which  covered  up  the  Roman  wail  on  two  sides,  and  formed  a  defence  on 
the  other  two  sides,  30  to  40  feet  high,  on  a  circuit  of  650  yards.  Upon  this  earlier 
circumvallation  the  Normans  reared  a  rectangular  enclosure  of  stone  walls,  with 
mural  towers,  gates, 
and  posterns,  and  on 
the  mound  w  a  s 
erected  the  usual 
Norman  shell  keep, 
polygonal  in  form. 
To  make  room  for 
this  fortress  240 
houses  were  cleared 
away,  which  was  al- 
most one-fifth  of  the 
number  of  houses  in 
the  town,  this  being 
1 150  in  all. 

Lucy,  the  sister  of 
the  great  Saxon 
Earls,  Edwin  and 
Morcar,  and  heiress 
of  this  great  native 
family,  married  Ivo 
de  Taillebois,  one  of 
the       Conqueror's 

barons,  and  was  possessed  of  lands  in  Lincoln  and  of  its  castle. 
1 1 14,  when  their  daughter,  Lucy,  claimed,  like  her  mother,  to  be  hereditary 
Constable  of  Lincoln  Castle,  and  fortified  one  of  its  towers.  She  was  married 
first  to  Roger  dc  Roumare,  and  afterwards  to  Ranulph  de  Brignesard,  called 
le  Meschine,  who  died  1129.  By  her  first  husband  she  had  a  son,  William 
de  Roumare,  whom  Stephen  made  Earl  of  Lincoln  ;  and  by  a  second  marriage 
another,  Ranulph,  called  (iernons,  who  was  made  Earl  of  Cliester  :  these  two 
half-brothers  were  at  \\v^\  adherents  of  Stephen,  but  very  soon  afterwards,  not 
succeeding  in  getting  their  mother's  castle  of  Lincoln  from  him,  they  surprised 
and  took  the  castle  and  declared  for  the  Empress  Maud.  Stephen  at  once 
marched  .ig.iinst  them  and  laid  siege  to  the  W.  side  of  the  castle  with  a  strong 
force,  arriving  just  at  Christmas  (1140),  when  the  two  earU,  with  their  friends  and 
wives  and  families,  were  promising  themselves  much  enjoyment,  and  were  ill- 


Citt/  »*<: 


LINCOLN 


Ivo  died  in 


436  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

provided  with  either  men  or  stores  for  enduring  a  siege.  Assistance  from  outside 
was  their  only  hope,  and  surrounded  as  they  were,  on  one  side  by  the  hostile 
army,  and  in  the  town  by  enemies  who  had  brought  Stephen  against  them,  it  was 
no  easy  matter  for  any  one  to  leave  the  fortress  in  order  to  obtain  help  from 
friends.  Chester,  however,  did  actually  escape  for  this  purpose,  and  historians 
have  wondered  how  his  exit  was  effected.  But  an  inspection  of  the  ancient  keep 
will  solve  the  difficultv,  for  up  in  that  tower,  on  the  side  open  to  the  country,  will 
still  be  seen  the  friendly  postern,  unsuspected  and  unwatched,  through  which 
the  earl  escaped.  Proceeding  to  Cheshire,  he  first  collected  his  own  adherents, 
and  then  sought  the  aid  of  his  father-in-law,  the  great  Earl  of  Gloucester, 
who,  glad  thus  to  strike  a  strong  blow  for  the  Empress,  joined  forces,  and 
taking  command  of  the  army,  marched  towards  Lincoln.  They  arrived  at  the 
Trent,  swollen  with  winter  rains,  on  February  2,  but  Gloucester  found  means  to 
cross  his  troops,  and  boldly  went  on  to  attack  King  Stephen,  who  had,  on  hearing 
of  his  approach,  raised  the  siege,  just  as  the  castle  was  about  to  be  yielded,  and 
drawn  up  his  troops  in  line  of  battle.  Then  ensued  the  fight  named  the  First  battle 
of  Lincoln,  called  by  Grafton  "  a  grisely  and  cruel  fight,"  which  ended  in  the  defeat 
and  capture  of  Stephen,  in  spite  of  his  heroic  valour  :  he  was  sent  prisoner 
first  to  Gloucester  and  thence  to  Bristol  Castle.  In  1144,  after  Stephen's  release. 
Earl  Ranulph  was  again  besieged  by  the  King  here,  but  without  success  ;  two 
years  later,  however,  being  found  at  the  Court,  he  was  made  prisoner,  and,  as  his 
ransom,  had  to  give  up  Lincoln  Castle,  whereupon  Stephen  repaired  thither  himself. 
Chester  made  an  attempt,  in  1147,  unsuccessfully,  to  recover  it,  attacking  the  city 
which  sided  with  the  King.  He  again  found  himself  a  prisoner  in  1151,  but  was 
released  at  the  Convention  at  Wallingford,  and  obtained  a  grant  of  Lincoln  in 
return  for  the  cession  of  Tickhill  Castle. 

Henry  II.  was  crowned  at  Lincoln  in  1155.  Richard  I.  granted  the  castle  and 
its  revenues  to  Gerald  de  Camville,  who,  in  spite  of  this  bounty,  espoused  the 
rebellion  of  Prince  John,  and  underwent  a  siege  here  by  Longchamp  on  the  part 
of  the  King.  Then,  in  the  reign  of  John,  the  widow  of  De  Camville,  Nicholaia, 
held  the  castle  against  the  insurgent  Barons,  and  on  King  John  visiting  Lincoln, 
he  was  received  by  her,  when,  presenting  him  with  the  keys,  she  begged  that,  on 
account  of  her  age,  she  might  be  relieved  from  the  constableship.  In  1216 
Gilbert  de  Gant,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  one  of  the  most  strenuous  supporters  of  the 
Dauphin,  had  entered  Lincoln,  and,  with  the  support  of  the  townspeople, 
attacked  the  castle.  King  John,  in  the  autumn,  collecting  what  troops  he  had 
and  all  his  treasure,  set  out  from  King's  Lynn  to  relieve  it ;  but  passing  along 
the  seashore  of  the  Wash,  his  columns  were  surrounded  by  the  tide,  and  he 
lost  his  baggage,  treasure,  regalia,  carriages  and  all  ;  the  vexation  consequent  on 
which  losses  occasioned  his  death,  {sec  Sleafokd). 

At  the  death  of  John,  the  Barons  of  England  found  themselves  in  a  difficult 
position  in  regard  to  the  French  Dauphin,  whom  they  had  invited  to  take  the 


itheni,ih-is 

^  felorians 
6inoi 


Ihrougli  wliicli 

oi  Gloucester, 
^  forces,  and 
yaiivedatthe 
tmnd  means  to 
'Hon  hearing 
be  yielded,  and 
tdtheFirstbattle 
ndedintliedeieat 
ns  snt  prisoner 
Stephen's  release, 
MB  success;  tfo 
"  .'id,  as  his 


i,ilticldngthecit\- 
seiniijiiktTO 
nni  oi  Lincoln  in 


,1 


;tcd  the  castle  and 
■ffit^,  espoused  the 

MP  on  the  part 
';.;,Nicholaia, 
.;,:n«  Lincoln, 


■•?■ 


In  iJid 


,  ..porters  ot  tne 

the  toraspeoplfi 

--.-  troops  k  had 

passing  2l™§ 

nvK  tide,  anil* 

■:on: 


on 


I 


:ina" 
edtotakettie 


d. 


•j3 
■X, 


LINCOI.XSHIRF.  439 

S  LEA  FORD    {mnior) 

A  CASTLE  was  built  at  this  town  about  tlie  year  1130  by  Alexander,  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  on  the  site  of  a  Roman  work,  accordinj^  to  Stukelev. 

The  j^reat  chuichinen  of  early  times  were  in  the  same  position  as  the  j^reat 
nobles,  and,  like  them,  were  ohlij^ed  to  protect  their  lands  and  property  bv  the 
formation  of  strongholds  with  armed  dependants.  Henry  of  Blois,  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  who  was  brother  to  Stephen,  converted  all  his  episcopal  residences 
into  castles;  Roger,  Bisho]-)  of  Salisbury,  erected  four  castles  at  Devizes,  Sherborne, 
Malmcslniry  and  Salisbury  ;  and  his  nephew  Alexander,  third  Bishop  of  Lincoln, 
built  tile  castles  of  Newark,  Banbury  and  Slealord,  in  his  own  diocese. 

The  manor  of  Sleaford  was  given  by  the  C<jnqueror  to  Remigius,  the  first 
Bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  Stephen,  jealous  of  the  power  of  the  Churchmen,  having 
imprisoned  both  Bishop  Roger  and  his  nephew  (siv  Dkvizks),  forced  them  to 
surrender  all  these  castles  to  him,  but  the  property  was  afterwards  regained  bv 
Bishop  Alexander,  and  long  continued  in  the  possession  of  the  See. 

A  Royal  visit  was  paid  hero  by  King  John  on  his  last  and  fatal  progress.  To 
oppose  the  Dauphin  and  make  a  strong  effort  to  save  his  crown,  John  started  in 
September  from  Chippenham  for  Cirencester,  and  thence  passed  to  Burford, 
Oxford,  W'allingford,  Reading,  Aylesbury,  Bedford,  Cambridge,  and  to  Rocking- 
ham, collecting  his  forces,  and  reaching  Lincoln  onSeptember  22.  Thence  he  went 
to  Grimsby,  Louth,  and  Spalding,  and  to  Lvnn,  where  he  stayed  on  October  y 
and  10.  Here  he  learned  that  the  army  of  the  liarons  had  taken  Lincoln,  and  at 
once  started  to  join  issue  with  them.  He  tried  to  cross  the  tail  of  the  Wash 
estuary  across  the  old  channel  of  the  Welland,  at  a  place  called  Kossdykes  ;  but, 
while  toiling  across  the  heavy  sands  with  his  long  train  of  baggage  and  treasure, 
the  advancing  tide  overtook  him,  and,  rising  quicker  than  his  terrified  troops 
could  move,  overwhelmed  the  whole  in  one  desperate  catastrophe,  out  of  which 
the  King  himself  barely  managed  to  escape  with  life,  losing  there  horses, 
carriages,  baggage,  stores,  his  treasure  chests,  and  even  his  regalia  and  crown. 
Ill  at  Lynn,  and  excited  by  the  bad  news  there,  when,  wet  and  exhausted,  he 
reached  the  shelter  of  Swineshead  Abbey,  he  is  said  to  have  partaken  largely  of  fruit 
and  cider,  which  brought  on  fever  and  dysentery  ;  so  that  next  day,  unable  to 
ride,  he  was  brought  in  a  litter  to  Sleaford,  where,  with  treatment  better  for  the 
country  than  for  the  patient,  he  was  bled,  and  next  day  went  on  to  the  other 
castle  of  the  bishop  at  Newark,  riding  on  horseback  with  assistance.  .And  here, 
on  October  iS,  the  King  died,  and  his  followers  at  once  plundered  all  they 
could,  and  even  stripped  the  body,  which  was  taken  to  Worcester  for  burial. 
The  story  of  poison  administered  by  a  monk  at  Swineshead,  adopted  by  Holin- 
shed  and  the  St.  .Alban's  Chronicle,  and  likewise  by  Shakespeare,  may  well  be 
discarded. 

The  castle  of  Sleaford  was  in  good  order  wlien  Leiaiid  visited  it  about  1545. 


440  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

He  says  :  "Withoute  the  towne  of  Sleford  standith,  WSW,  the  propre  castelle  of 
Sleford,  very  well  mantayned ;  and  it  is  compassed  with  a  renning  streme, 
ciiinming  by  a  cut  oute  of  a  little  feene,  lying  about  flatte  W  against  it.  In  the 
gateway  be  2  portcullices,  &  there  is  a  highe  toure  in  the  midst  of  the  Castelle 
but  not  sette  upon  a  hille  of  raised  yerth."  But  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  the 
castle  and  manor  of  Sleaford  were  granted  to  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  wlio  sold  the 
lead  and  timber  of  the  roof ;  and  when,  in  natural  sequence,  decay  and  ruin  had 
set  in,  the  masonry  of  the  grand  old  pile  was  used  as  a  quarry,  and  the  materials 
were  carried  off  for  building  purposes.  The  castle  has  been  levelled  to  the 
ground,  and  it  is  certain  that  at  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  there  was  little  enough 
of  it  left  for  Cromwell  to  batter,  though  tradition  ascribes  the  ruin  to  him. 
(Trollope.)  A  drawing  of  the  remains,  made  in  1720  (given  by  Trollope),  shows 
a  large  part  of  the  N.  wall  and  the  N.W.  tower  standing  in  a  ruined  state,  as  well 
as  a  portion  of  the  keep ;  and  early  in  the  present  century  people  could  remember 
the  W.  gate  and  entrance  of  the  castle,  but  now  only  a  fragment  of  the  N.W. 
tower  is  standing,  having  walls  5  feet  thick. 

Queen  Mary  gave  the  manor  and  castle  to  the  Earl  of  Lincoln  and  Notting- 
ham, who  in  1559  sold  "the  late  fair  castle  of  Sleaford"  to  Sir  Robert  Carre,  the 
ancestor,  through  a  female  heiress,  of  the  present  Marquis  of  Bristol,  who  owns  it. 

The  chief  strength  of  Sleaford  Castle  lay  in  its  water  defences,  which  were  fed 
by  the  Slea  river,  and  were  capable  of  laying  the  fen  on  the  W.  side  under  water. 
A  causeway  raised  above  this  fen  formed  the  approach  which,  crossing  the  outer 
moat,  led  by  a  barbican  and  drawbridge  over  the  inner  moat  and  through  the 
gatehouse  into  the  inner  court,  a  large  rectangular  enclosure  made  by  this  moat, 
and  containing  the  castle  buildings.  The  plan  was  a  quadrangle,  with  square 
towers  at  the  angles,  and  a  keep  in  the  centre.  It  is  stated  that  the  castle  of 
Sleaford  was  quite  comparable  with  that  of  Newark,  of  the  grandeur  of  which  we 
have  still,  fortunately,  the  means  of  judging. 

SOMERTON    {ininor) 

NEAR  the  village  of  Boothby  Graffoe,  eight  miles  S.  of  Lincoln,  are  the  ruins 
of  this  castle,  which  was  built  upon  the  site  of  an  earlier  fortress  taken  by 
Ethelbald,  King  of  Mercia,  in  734.  This  castle  was  built  in  the  year  1281  by 
Anthony,  son  of  Walter  Bee,  or  Bek,  Baron  of  Eresby,  who  was  Bishop  of 
Durham  and  a  great  churchman  of  the  thirteenth  century.  He  obtained  a  licence 
(9  Edward  I.)  to  crenellate  his  house  here,  shortly  before  his  elevation  to  the  See, 
and  soon  after  its  completion  he,  for  politic  reasons  (as  in  the  case  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey  with  Hampton  Court),  presented  Somerton  to  Edward  I.,  who  granted  it 
to  William  de  Beaumont. 

In  this  castle  Sir  Sayer  de  Rochford,  a  warrior  who  fought  in  the  French  wars, 
undertook,  in  the  thirty-third  year  of  Edward  III.,  to  ward  and  safe-keep  King 


LINCOLNSHIRE  441 

Jolin  le  Bon,  of  France,  who  had  been  captured  with  dit'ticulty,  resisting  desper- 
ately, at  the  battle  of  Maiipertiiis,  or  Poictiers,  on  September  20,  1356.  He  was 
brought  first  to  Bordeaux,  and  thence  by  ship  to  Sandwich,  and  on  to  London,  in 
May  1357,  when  he  was  lodged  at  first  in  the  Savoy,  and  afterwards  at 
Windsor,  at  large  on  parole.  Here  letters  were  found  which  raised  suspicions  as 
to  liis  good  faith,  and  he  was  sent  to  Hertford  Castle.  Further  doubts  arising,  the 
King  and  his  son,  Philip,  were  conveyed  prisoners  to  this  castle  of  Souierton, 
which,  lying  in  a  remote  and  desolate  country,  was  considered  a  more  secure 
asylum  for  such  important  captives.  The  suite  attending  the  King,  which  had 
been  reduced  in  numbers  at  Hertford,  here  consisted  of  forty  persons,  and 
de  Rochford  was  allowed  two  shillings  a  day  f(}r  his  charge.  An  interesting 
account  is  given  by  Bishop  Trollope,  in  vol.  iv.  of  the  "Reports"  of  the  Associated 
Architectural,  &c.,  Societies  (1857),  of  King  John's  pursuits  when  Iiere,  and  of  the 
expenditure  on  his  food  and  clothing.  Baron  d'Eyncouit  had  charge  of  his 
movements  at  Somerton,  and  in  February  1360  was  ordered,  under  the  fear  of  a 
French  invasion,  to  conduct  the  captive  King  to  the  strong  fortress  of  Berkliam- 
stead,  in  Hertfordshire ;  but  this  destination  was  changed  to  the  Tower  of 
London,  whither  an  armed  force  brought  him,  witii  a  convoy  of  twelve  waggons, 
in  eight  days  from  Somerton.  Shortly  after,  in  the  month  of  May,  under  the 
treaty  of  Bretigny,  he  was  released,  on  payment  of  a  ransom  equal  to  about 
i\  millions  sterling  of  our  money. 

Somerton  must  have  been  a  fortress  of  much  strength  and  imposing  appear- 
ance ;  it  was  a  quadrangular  building  enclosing  a  courtyard,  and  at  each  angle 
was  a  lofty  circular  tower,  polygonal  internally  ;  three  of  these  towers  exist  partly, 
but  the  ccjnstruction  of  the  building  between  the  towers  cannot  be  now  discerned. 
Two  small  portions  only  of  the  curtain  project  from  the  S.E.  tower,  which  alone 
remains  entire,  45  feet  in  height,  with  its  parapet  above  the  bold  projecting  cornice 
— which  is  still  perfect — supporting  three  pinnacles,  behind  which  rises  the  round 
extinguisher  roof.  The  basement  chamber  is  vaulted,  and  there  are  two  stages 
over  it.  In  the  N.E.  corner  is  a  curious  and  beautifully  vaulted  room,  like  a 
chapter-house,  polygonal  in  plan,  with  a  central  pillar  supporting  the  roof, 
from  which  spring  twelve  arches  to  the  wall,  which  is  constructed  with  twelve 
ptjinted  niches  between  them,  live  of  these  having  loops,  and  one  forming  the 
doorway.  The  style  is  late  Early  English  (sec  drawings  in  Turner's  "  Domestic 
Architecture,"  vol.  i.).  The  N.W.  tower,  half  of  which  is  shown  in  Buck's 
drawing,  has  now  disappeared,  having  been  levelled  in  1849;  and  that  on  tlie 
S.W. — whereof  the  basement  remains  in  ruins,  built  into  the  farmliouse — contains 
an  octagonal  chamber  with  eight  recesses  and  pointed  wnulows. 

A  moat  enclosed  the  large  rectangular  space,  330  feet  by  180,  at  the  S.  end 

of  which  the  castle  is  placed,  the  water  coming  close  to  the  E.  S.  and  W.  w.iUs 

of  it.     S.  of  this  was  a  second  and  broader  moat  enclosing  the  outer  ward,  once 

strongly  fortilied  with  a  wall  and  circular  towers  at  the  angles,  21  feet  diameter 

VOL.   1.  3  K 


442  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

inside.    Thus  two  drawbridges  must  have  protected  the  entrance,  but  of  these,  as 
of  the  gatehouse,  notliing  now  remains. 

SOUTH   KYME  («;/;w;-) 

THIS  ruin  is  five  miles  from  Hackington  Station,  to  the  N.E.  of  Sleaford,  on 
the  edge  of  the  fens.  After  the  Conquest  William  retained  South  Kyme 
nominallv  in  his  own  hands  for  a  time,  but  it  afterwards  became  the  property  of  a 
family  who  took  their  name  from  it.  The  site  was  in  old  times  an  island  with  a 
slight  elevation  above  the  waters  of  the  fens,  and  being  inaccessible  to  the 
Normans,  was  never  actually  ceded  to  them. 

The  Kymes,  who  are  heard  of  in  iioo,  liecame  a  family  of  importance.  Philip 
de  K3-me  married  a  daughter  of  Hugh  Bigod  {see  BUNGAY,  &c.,  Suffolk),  and 
was  one  of  the  barons  who  signed  the  remonstrance  in  1300  to  the  Pope;  he 
went  to  the  wars  in  Scotland,  and  is  mentioned  in  the  Roll  of  Caerlaverock.  The 
last  of  the  male  line,  William  de  Kyme,  died  s.p.,  and  his  widow  married  Nicholas 
de  Cantelupe,  but  his  estate  passed  with  his  sister,  Lucy,  to  her  husband,  Robert 
de  Umfraville,  son  of  Gilbert,  Baron  of  Prudhoe,  in  Northumberland,  who 
succeeded  his  father,  Gilbert,  as  second  Earl  of  Angus  {sec  Pkudhoe),  dying  in 
1325.  This  family,  too,  came  to  an  end  after  less  than  100  years  of  possession, 
and  Kyme  passed  by  Joan,  the  granddaughter  of  Robert,  to  Gilbert  Burdon,  and 
again  by  his  daughter,  to  Sir  Henry  Talboys,  whose  descendants  held  it  for  a  long 
time,*  but  it  came,  in  1530,  by  division  among  heiresses,  to  Sir  Edward  Dymoke, 
of  Scrivelsby,  the  King's  Champion,  whose  family  continued  to  reside  there  till 
about  1730.  In  that  year  Kyme  was  sold  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  and  it  was 
purchased  in  1748  by  Abraham  Hume,  whose  son,  Sir  Abraham  Hume,  Bart.,  left 
it  to  his  second  daughter,  and  the  property  passed  again,  by  marriage,  in  1810, 
to  Earl  Brownlow,  of  Belton,  whose  grandson,  Mr.  E.  R.  C.  Cust,  is  the  present 
owner. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  remaining  portion  of  this  castle  was  built  by 
the  Umfravilles,  since  the  boss  in  the  centre  of  the  vaulted  roof  of  the  tower 
basement  carries  their  shield  (gules,  a  cinquefoil  within  an  orle  of  crosses  patoncc, 
or).  Of  the  fabric,  which  is  mentioned  by  Leland  as  "the  goodly  house  and 
park  of  Kyme  belonging  to  Sir  George  Tailleboys,"  and  which  was  pulled  down 
'"  ^735>  one  single  tower  remains,  this  alone  having  been  then  spared.  It  is  an 
admirable  piece  of  fourteenth-century  masonry,  built  of  the  Ancaster  oolite,  and 
almost  as  perfect  now  as  when  erected,  the  rest  of  the  castle  standing  on  the 
S.  side  of  it.  The  whole  was  surrounded  by  a  moat  which  we  can  trace,  a  part 
of  it  still  containing  water  ;  the  line  of  the  outer  moat  can  also  be  made  out. 
The  tower  we  see  was  the  citadel  or  keep  of  the  mansion  ;    it  is  77  feet  high,  and 

*  One  of  the  Paston  Letters  (70,  vol.  iii.)  is  written  from  Kyme  in  1455  by  William  Tailboys. 


LINCOLNSHIRH  ^3 

is  nearly  square,  havinj^  a  staircase  turret  at  tlie  S.K.  ai);;le  ;  the  ba^^enicnt  is 
vaulted  and  j^roined  with  eij^ht  chanilered  rih>,  supported  hy  the  centre  Jh>ss, 
having  an  entrance  int(j  it  from  the  inner  ward  ;  above  this  are  three  rooms' 
reached  by  the  newel  stair.  There  are  no  fireplaces,  and  the  windows  were 
closed  with  wooden  shutters,  of  which  the  hooks  remain,  and  there  are  in  the 
tracery  of  some  windows  grooves  for  glass. 

The  room  on  the  first  floor  was  called  the  Checquered  Chamber,  ix-rliaps 
from  the  pattern  of  its  pavement  now  lost,  and  access  to  it  was  gained  from  the 
other  buildings  which  are  shown  to  have  reached  only  to  this  level.  The  ruined 
base  of  another  tower  was  removed  in  the  last  century,  and  is  mentioned  as 
having  afforded  a  convenient  and  sale  platform,  where  women  and  children  stood 
to  witness  the  bull-baitings,  once  held  on  the  site  of  this  old  residence  of  tl»e 
Umfraviiles. 

The  ill-fated  Anne  Askew,  who  was  wickedly  burnt  at  Winchester  by 
Henry  VI II.  for  her  opinions  regarding  the  I^eal  Presence,  was  wife  of  the 
owner  of  this  castle  in   1530,  his  name  being  written  Ayscough. 

TATTERS  HALL  (chief) 

JN  the  flat  country,  twelve  miles  from  Boston,  beside  the  railway  to  Lincoln, 
stands  the  tower  of  Tattershall,  perhaps  the  finest  specimen  of  a  brickwork 
structure  in  the  kingdom.  The  tower  now  standing  formed  the  keep  of  an 
extensive  fortress  erected  in  the  reign  of  Henry  V'l.  (cir.  1440)  by  Kalpii, 
Lord  Cromwell,  upon  the  site  of  an  earlier  castle.  Camden  says  that  shortly 
after  the  Conquest  the  lordship  of  Tateshall  and  other  lands  were  given  to  two 
Normans,  Kudo  and  Pinso. 

Tateshall  became  tiie  property  of  Eudo,  who  lived  here,  as  did  after  him  his 
son,  Hugh,  who,  in  11 39,  founded  a  Cistercian  abbey  at  Kirkstead,  near  by. 
Robert  KitzEudo,  the  great-great-grandson  of  this  Hugh  obtained,  in  \iy\,  from 
Henry  111.,  a  licence  to  build  and  crenellate  a  house,  and  then  it  was  that  the  first 
castle  was  erected.  Nothing  whatever  remains  of  this  building  at  the  present 
day,  but  in  the  view  of  Tattershall  given  by  Buck,  as  it  appeared  in  17^7,  certain 
portions  of  buildings  of  the  thirteenth  century  are  shown  to  be  then  standing  ; 
and  it  is  a  fact  that,  many  years  since,  the  stone  and  other  materials  com|>i)>Mig 
these  ruins  were  given  to  a  bricklayer  on  condition  that  he  removed  them,  levelled 
the  castle  yard,  and  filled  in  the  inner  moat — which  side  of  the  bargain  has 
certainly  been  thoroughly  executed  (Lincoln  Topographical  Society  Pa|ier>-».  A 
neighbouring  brewery  was  built  with  the  materials. 

The  manor  continued  in  the  male  line  of  the  Eudos,  barons  of  Tattershall,  till 
the  death  of  Robert,  the  third  baron,  a  minor,  when  his  father's  sisters  divided  his 
lands,  and  Tattershall  became  the  possession  of  Joan,  whose  daughter,  Alice, 
married   Sir   William    Bernack.      This    man's    son   and  grandson    inliciittd   in 


444 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


succession,  hut  on  the  failure  of  lieirs  to  tiie  latter,  the  lands  passed,  by  the  marriage 
of  Maud,  his  aunt,  to  Sir  Ralph,  afterwards  Lord,  Cromwell,  who  also  received 
additional  grants  from  Richard  II.  He  died  in  1398,  leaving  a  son,  Ralph,  his  heir, 
who  died  1416,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Ralph,  Lord  Cromwell,  by  whom 
this  tower  was  erected.  He  was  appointed  Treasurer  to  the  King's  Exchequer 
in  1435,  and  died  in  1455.      His  wife  was  Mary  D'Eyncourt,  whose  mother  was 

connected  by  Grey  blood  with  the  Mar- 
mions  of  Scrivelsby  ;  but  he  had  no  issue, 
and  his  niece,  Maud,  brought  Tatters- 
hall  in  marriage  to  Sir  Thomas  Nevile, 
who  being  slain  on  the  Yorkist  side  at  the 
battle  of  Wakefield,  all  his  property,  in- 
cluding this  place,  was  confiscated  by  the 
party  of  Henry  VI.  Camden  says  that 
Tattershall  was  given  by  Henry  VII.,  in 
1487,  to  his  mother,  the  Countess  of  Rich- 
mond. Henry  VIII.  granted  it,  in  1520,  to 
Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  on  his 
marriage  with  that  King's  sister,  but  in 
default  of  heirs  it  again  reverted  to  the 
Crown.  In  155 1  Edward  VI.  bestowed  the 
castle  and  manor  on  Edward,  Lord  Clinton 
and  Saye,  afterwards  Earl  of  Lincoln,  in 
whose  family  they  remained  till  1692,  when, 
on  the  death  of  the  sixth  earl,  they  became 
the  property,  through  his  cousin  Bridget,  of 
Hugh  Fortescue,  from  whom  they  have  de- 
scended to  Earl  Fortescue,  the  present 
possessor. 

Tradition  asserts  that  after  the  battle  of 

Horncastle,  or  Winceby,  in  1643,  the  castle 

was  dismantled  and  unroofed,  though  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  occupied 

during  the  Civil  War,  and  a  roof  remained  for  sale  and  destruction  at  the  final 

Vandalism  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago. 

The  castle  was  defended  by  a  two-fold  moat,  the  outer  one  extending  only 
over  the  N.  and  W.  sides,  and  communicating  with  the  river  Bain  on  the  S.,  and 
northward,  by  a  cut,  with  a  stream  which  now  forms  the  Horncastle  canal.  The 
inner  moat,  reveted  with  brick  walls,  completely  encircled  the  castle,  being 
supplied  with  water  from  the  outer  one  by  an  opening  through  the  ballium  on  the 
N.,  the  brick  walls  of  which  are  still  apparent.  Here  there  was  a  defence  by  two 
turrets  and  a  gateway  between,  as  shown  in  Buck's  drawing,  with  a  drawbridge 
m  front.    The  gatehouse  on  the  E.  side  is  shown  by  Buck,  with  two  slender 


TATTERSHALL 


LINCOLNSHIRE  ^^5 

octa^'onal  turrets,  and  a  gateway  between  tlieni  witli  a  portcullis.  In  front  of  this, 
across  the  inner  moat,  is  shown  a  brick  building  of  two  storeys,  altachetl  to  the 
barbican,  which  was  used  as  a  guard-house  and  coniinunieated  on  the  upper  floor 
with  the  parapet  of  the  outer  curtain  wall  which  extended  tlience  southward  to  a 
turret  adjoining  the  inner  moat.  Tliis  formed  the  protection  on  the  E.  side.  On 
the  W.  was  another  large  building,  now  used  as  a  barn,  which,  with  another  piece 
of  wall,  closed  the  space  between  the  moats,  with  a  strong  tower  at  its  N.  end, 
whose  foundations  are  there  by  the  outer  moat.  Outside  tiie  inner  moat  on  the 
S.  is  an  enclosure  of  half  an  acre  which  seems  to  have  been  an  adjunct  of  the 
castle;  the  wall  enclosing  it  is  still  almost  entire,  and  on  the  K.  of  it  is  another 
larger  area  which  has  been  subdivided  into  three  parts,  with  terraces,  where 
were  the  gardens  and  orchard,  having  two  stone  doorways  of  great  elegance  and 
ornamcntrd  with  sliields  of  Cromwell,  D'Eyncourt,  and  others  :  these  have  of  late 
disappeared. 

The  great  keep  tower,  which  ol  the  many  buildings  now  alone  sur\'ives,  stands 
in  the  N.E.  angle  of  the  inner  ward.  It  is  a  magnilicent  specimen  of  brickwork, 
perhaps  finer  than  Hurstmonceux,  and  w.is  quite  detached  from  other  buildings, 
being  furnished  with  windows  on  all  sides.  Its  length  X.  and  S.  is  S(>  feet,  and 
E.  and  W.  67,  its  height  to  the  parapets  of  the  turrets  being  112  feet.  Huilt  at  a 
time  when  comfort  and  luxury  were  much  considered,  the  windows  are  large  and 
numerous,  and,  wliile  the  walls  are  enormously  thick,  the  principal  defence  lay  in 
the  broad  and  deep  moats.  The  tower  has  four  storeys  above  the  basement,  and 
the  four  octagonal  turrets  which  support  the  four  corners  have  each  two  storeys 
above  the  roof.  The  basement  is  entered  from  tiie  exterior,  and  consists  of  a 
single  large  cellar,  vaulted  with  a  marvellously  flat  arch.  There  is  a  small  cellar 
under  each  corner  turret  ;  the  walls,  which  are  14  feet  thick,  also  h.ive  recesses, 
and  the  S.E.  turret  contains  a  spiral  staircase. 

The  ground  floor  is  entered  only  from  outside,  on  the  IC,  and  contains  a 
large  chamiier  38  feet  bv  22,  and  17  in  height,  lighted  by  two  windows  of  very  tine 
design  on  the  W.,  and  with  one  at  each  end.  There  is  a  grand  fireplace  with 
sculptured  panels  of  family  arms;  and  each  of  the  three  turrets  lias  a  room  about 
14  feet  by  9,  vaulted  and  lighted  by  two  windows,  while  the  E.  wall  has  a  mural 
chamber.     There  are  garderobes  upon  each  floor. 

The  three  upper  storeys  are  similarlv  arranged,  tlie  vast  thickness  of  the  E. 
wall  allowing  of  many  mural  chambers,  while  there  are  mural  p.assages  in  the  other 
walls.  On  the  second  floor  is  a  gallery  38  feet  long,  beautifully  vaulted  in  compart- 
ments. Each  storey  is  about  18  feet  high,  and  had  timber  floors,  which  have 
perished.  There  were  forty-eight  separate  rooms  in  this  tower.  The  stone  machi- 
colations are  superb,  and  are  carried  below  the  embattled  par.ipets,  opening  from 
covered  galleries  contrived  below  the  allures,  or  cliiiiiiii  ik  iviul  of  the  battlements. 

William  of  Worcester  says  that  the  Lord  Treasurer  spent  al>ove  4000  : 
(^"2665  or,  say,  ^'53,000  of  our  money)  on  his  castle.     His  household  con 


446  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

of  100  persons,  and  when  lie  rode  to  London  120  horsemen  accompanied  him  ; 
his  annual  expenditure  was  ^"5000.  It  is  thought  that  William  of  Waynflete, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  was  the  architect  or  designer  of  this  castle  ;  he  was  a 
personal  friend  of  Lord  Cromwell,  and  some  of  his  work  at  his  own  cathedral 
corresponds  with  some  in  this  tower.  Flemish  bricks  are  said  to  have  been  used, 
measuring  about  8i  inches  long  by  2  inches  thick,  and  only  the  dressings  of  the 
windows  and  doors  are  of  stone,  besides  the  machicoulis.  There  is  a  remarkable 
stone  sunken  handrail  throughout  the  spiral  staircase  in  the  S.E.  turret. 

TEMPLE   BRUERS  {minor) 

A  PARISH  six  miles  N.N.W.  from  Sleaford.  The  lands,  formerly  a  heathery 
moor,  were  given  by  Robert  d'Everingham  to  the  Knights  Templars,  who 
(cir.  1 185)  founded  a  large  preceptory  here.  At  the  suppression  of  the  Order  in 
131 1,  it  became  the  property  of  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John,  who 
converted  the  settlement  into  a  commandery,  which  was  given  at  the  Dissolution 
by  Henry  VIII.  to  Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk.  It  had  then  extensive 
buildings,  and  a  round  church  of  which  some  foundations  exist,  and  near  by  is  a 
small  tower  of  the  time  of  Edward  I.,  whose  exterior  walls  are  in  good  preserva- 
tion, excepting  the  battlements.  Whether  this  was  for  defence,  or  a  part  of  the 
military  arrangements  connected  with  the  church  discipline  of  the  soldier-priests, 
it  is  hard  to  say.  The  chief  room  may  have  been  a  chapter-house  of  the  Templars. 
The  building  consists  of  three  storeys,  finely  vaulted  and  groined,  having  on  the 
W.  and  S.  nine  arches,  originally  supported  by  slender  columns,  of  which  one 
alone  remains.     It  is  the  property  of  the  Right  Hon.  Henry  Chaplin,  M.P. 

THE  TOWER  ON  THE   MOOR  {minor) 

ON  Martin  Moor,  an  extensive  district  lying  S.  of  Horncastle,  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  from  Woodhall  Spa,  and  about  4^  miles  distant  from 
Tattershall,  stands  the  relic  of  a  brick  structure,  called  from  its  situation  the 
Tower  on  the  Moor.  Built  by  the  same  founder.  Lord  Treasurer  Cromwell,  it  is 
supposed  to  have  been  an  appanage  of  the  castle  of  Tattershall,  and  perhaps  was  a 
protection  for  the  extensive  park  ;  it  is  plainly  visible  from  the  castle  in  the  flat 
country.  Leland  writes  ;  "  One  of  the  Cromwells  builded  a  preaty  turret  called 
'  the  Tour  of  the  Moore,'  and  thereby  he  made  a  faire  greate  ponde  or  lake, 
bricked  about  ;  the  lake  is  commonly  called  '  Synkker.'  " 

Only  an  octagonal  turret  remains,  to  which  some  fragments  of  walls  adhere  ; 
it  is  about  60  feet  in  height,  and  contained  a  winding  stair  of  brick,  now  all  broken 
away,  with  an  arched  opening  to  each  of  the  four  storeys  of  the  tower.  Traces  of 
the  fosse  by  which  it  was  surrounded  are  still  visible,  but  none  of  the  pond, 
which  could  scarcely  have  existed  near  the  tower. 


NEWARK 


IRottinobnnisbirc 


BLYTH  {iwn-exislaii) 

ALITTI.K  town  in  tlic  X.  of  llic  county,  partly  in  Notts  and  partly  in 
Yorksliirc,  on  the  K.  hank  of  the  stream  of  Ryton,  seven  miles  from 
Worksop,  and  famous  for  its  noble  cliurcli,  uncc  beIon;^inj;  to  a 
Benedictine  priory  founded  here  about  1068  by  the  Xonnan 
Ko<,'er  (le  Bush,  or  De  Builli  {sec  TlCKHlLL,  YORKs),  with  the  consent  of  his  wife 
Muriel,  being  "of  a  pious  and  t^rateful  disposition  :"  of  this  a  considerable  part 
remains  at  this  day,  hut  of  the  castle,  which  he  is  believed  to  have  likewise  built, 
no  trace  is  to  be  found.  Leland  indeed  writes  :  "  I  asked  for  a  castelle  tiiat  I 
hard  say  was  symtyme  at  Blyth  :  but  other  aunswer  I  larnid  not,  but  that  a  little 
or  1  cam  ynto  the  town  thcr  aiiperitli  yii  a  woodes  side  token  of  an  ancient 
buildiii!^.  "  And  it  is  probable  that  a  castle  did  stand  here  once,  but  in  con- 
sequence of  confusion  between  the  charters  of  Tickhill  and  Blyth,  little  can  Ik* 
learned  about  the  latter  castle,  which  possibly  became  insignificant  and  disused 
and  neglected  in  the  growth  nl  the  important  one  of  Tickhill. 


C  r  C  K  X  K  Y  (noii-exis/cnt) 

CUCKXEY  lies   close  under  the  S.  side  of  Welbeck  I'ark,  two  inilcs  from 
Langwith  railway  station,  and  near  the  border  of  Derbyshire,  whore,  on 
tile  opposite  hill,  stands  Bolsover  Castle.     It  once  possessed  .1  i.inII.,  of  uli.li 


^^8  CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 

nothini;  remains  now  but  the  site.  Joceiis  de  Flemaugh,  a  follower  of  Duke 
William  from  Normandy,  and  probably  a  Fleming,  acquired  here  a  third  of  a 
knight's  fee,  thereby  turning  out  a  Saxon,  named  Gemelbere,  who  possessed  two 
carucates  of  land  and  some  sort  of  stronghold ;  he  was  an  inferior  sort  of 
knight,  who  held  his  lands  by  a  curious  tenure.  South  of  Cuckney,  on  the  edge 
of  Sherwood  Forest,  is  the  town  of  Mansfield,  which  was  a  Royal  manor  from  very 
early  times,  and  was  frequented  by  our  Angevin  Kings  when  on  hunting  excursions 
ill  the  forest,  a  tolerably  constant  occupation  in  those  early  days,  when,  from  the 
absence  of  markets  in  the  land,  it  became  a  necessity  for  them  to  provide  food 
for  their  Court  and  the  large  following  that  filled  their  palaces.  By  an  old 
inquisition  it  appears  that  the  manor  of  Cuckney  was  held  by  sergeantry  for 
shoeing  the  King's  horse  when  he  came  to  Mansfield  ;  if  all  the  nails  were  put  in 
without  laming  or  pricking  the  horse,  the  feuar  was  to  have  a  palfrey  from  the 
King,  of  the  value  of  four  marks. 

The  Fleming  died  without  issue,  and  the  lands  being  escheated,  were  given  by 
Henry  I.  to  Gemelbere's  son,  Richard,  to  be  held  by  the  same  service.  The  family 
must  have  risen  in  consideration,  for  we  find  this  man's  son,  Richard,  marrying 
Hawise,  a  cousin  of  the  powerful  Earl  de  Ferrars,  and  his  grandson,  Thomas,  was 
the  founder  of  Welbeck  Abbey.  This  Thomas  de  Cuckney  was  "  a  warlike  man  "  in 
the  reign  of  Stephen,  and  perhaps  was  compounding  for  his  evil  deeds  by  this 
good  work  for  the  Church,  as  was  common  enough  then  ;  he  it  was  who  also 
built  this  castle  of  Cuckney.  He  left  a  daughter,  Isabel,  married  to  one  Simon 
FitzSimon,  with  issue  of  three  daughters,  who  became  wards  of  the  King  ;  two  of 
them  Henry  II.  married  to  two  brothers,  De  Falconberg,  the  husband  of  the 
younger  being  Stephen  de  Falconberg,  who  took  the  lands  and  castle  of  Cuckney, 
held  in  the  above  fashion  of  the  King. 

GREASLEY,  or   GRISELEY  {uon-cxi,fati) 

THIS  castle  stood  near  the  border  of  Derbyshire,  one  mile  S.  of  Hucknall 
Torkard,  in  which  church  are  buried  Lord  Byron,  the  poet,  and  his  mother 
and  daughter,  with  many  of  his  predecessors.  Thoroton  (1677)  calls  it  a  strong- 
hold of  the  Griseley  family,  founded  in  1341,  which  passed  eventually  through 
marriage  to  the  Cantelupes.  In  1340  Edward  III.  gave  a  licence  to  Nicholas, 
Lord  Cantelupe,  to  strengthen  and  fortify  the  manor-house  of  Grysele,  known 
thenceforth  as  Griseley  Castle,  of  which  some  slight  remains  may  yet  be  found 
on  the  brow  of  a  lofty  and  precipitous  eminence  near  the  church. 

The  manor  was  originally  one  of  the  many  granted  to  William  Peverel,  the 
Conqueror's  natural  son,  after  the  Conquest.  It  went  of  course  from  his  son, 
with  the  Peak,  Bolsover,  and  other  places,  on  his  disgrace,  and  in  5  Stephen 
was  held  by  William  de  Griseley ;  Ralph  Griseley  had  it  (temp.  John),  and  in 
17   John,    Hugh    FitzFJalph,   one    of   the   rebellious    barons,    who    married    his 


NOTTIXGHAMSIIIKF  ^^,^ 

d;uij,'litcr  Affiles,  licld  the  honour  of  Pcverel,  which  iiKhidcd  Uiisclcv  ;  lii>  sou 
R.ilpli  liad  a  d.iiij^htcr,  Eiistacliia,  married  to  Nicholas  dc  Caiitehi|K-,  who  tluis 
succeeded,  and,  as  mentioned  above,  added  to  tlie  fortress.  In  14  Kicliard  II. 
one  of  the  heirs  of  Wilham  de  Cantelupe,  in  the  fifth  {{eneration,  William  dc 
Zonch,  owned  the  castle  and  settled  it  on  William,  Ijird  Koos  of  Handak  ;  he  died 
(3  Henry  V'.),  leavin<4  a  son  and  heir,  William.  From  Lord  Zouch  the  lordship 
came  to  the  Crown,  and  wa>  In-  Henry  \'ll.  conferred  on  Sir  James  Sava;je.  of 
whom  it  was  bought  by  Sir  John  Maimers,  ancestor  of  the  iJuke  of  Kiithind,  who 
now  possesses  it. 

Tiioroton   says  that  even    in    his  time   this  castle  had  been  totallv  dcsli..vi-d, 
except  one  or  two  fragments  of  a  plain  wail. 


HAYTOX   (non-exis/a,/) 

THIS  place  is  one  mile  W.X.W.  from  Clareboroiigh,  near  Retford,  where 
formerly  was  an  old  castle  of  the  family  of  de  Hayton.of  which  there  are 
no  remains  whatever,  except  some  part  of  the  moat,  converted  into  a  lish  pond. 
A    large   modern    mansion,  called  the   castle,  stands   aiiout  300   vards  from   the 

ancient  site,  being  the  residence  of  Mr.  Rulurt  H.  Barber. 


N  E  \y  \  R  K  O  X  -T  U  K  X  T  (Me/) 


THIS  fortress,  situated  011  the  K.  bank  of  a  branch  of  tiie  Trent,  where  the 
Foss  Way  approached  the  ri\er  and  so  commanded  the  pass;ige,  received 
the  name  of  the  Key  of  the  Xorth,  and  was  held  to  be  a  strong  position  in  the 
kingdom  of  Mercia.  Stukeley  gives  it  as  his  deliberate  opinion  that  this  w:us  a 
Roman  city,  and  tli at  the  site  of  the  castle  was  occupied  by  a  large  granary,  like 
Colchester  or  London  Tower  ;  Roman  urns,  coins,  and  other  remains  have  been 
dug  up  here.  To  Egbert  has  been  ascribed  the  building  of  the  first  fortress, 
which  fell  into  tlie  hands  of  the  Danes,  and,  when  recovered  from  them,  E:irl 
Leofric  (temp.  Edward  Confessor)  is  said  to  have  rebuilt  if,  whence  it  obtained 
the  name  of  New  Werke,  in  the  same  way  as  did  a  part  of  Leicester  Castle.  In 
Domesday  Leofric's  wife,  Godiva,  of  Coventry  fame,  is  stated  to  have  paid  the  l.ix 
of  Danes-geld  for  her  manor  of  Newarke.  Hut  the  erection  of  the  great  c;istlc, 
whose  remains  now  stand  along  the  brink  of  the  Midland  river,  was  the  work  of 
Alexander,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  in  the  time  of  Stephen  (1123);  this  prelate  bmit 
also  the  castle  of  Sleaford,  and  perhaps  that  of  H.mbury  also  ;  then,  in  order  to 
atone  for  work  so  ill-betitting  a  bishop,  he  proceeded  to  build  a  like  mimlx-r  of 
monasteries.  Stephen,  however,  determined  to  get  possessitm  »>f  his  castles,  and 
to  this  end  threw  the  iiisliop  into  Devizes  Castle,  and  kept  him  on  brea-!  ■■■■' 
water  till  he  had  conceded  them,  and  then  marched  him  to  Newark  anil  SI. 
to  effect  and  complete  tiie  tradition. 

VOL.   I.  3  '- 


450  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

At  the  clo.sc  of  John's  reign,  the  Barons  whom  he  had  cowed,  when  they 
received  the  aid  of  the  French  King,  gathered  courage  again,  and  seized  Newark 
Castle  (1215),  after  a  determined  resistance  from  Gilbert  de  Gaunt,  the  King's 
castellan.  Then  next  year  happened  one  of  the  many  scenes  of  interest  that  this 
castle  witnessed,  when  John,  worn  out  with  fever  and  dysentery,  which  had 
attacked  him  at  Swineshead  after' his  escape  from  the  waters  of  the  Wash,  where 
the  baggage  and  stores  of  his  army,  his  treasure-chest  and  regalia,  had  been  lost, 
came  there  and  died,  three  days  after,  on  October  18,  12 16. 

In  the  early  days  of  Henry  III.  some  of  the  turbulent  Barons  seized  again  on 
Newark  :  Roger  of  Wendover  gives  the  names  of  the  most  troublesome  of  them 
as  William  de  Fortibus,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  Falk  de  Brent,  Robert  Vipont,  Brian 
de  Lisle,  Hugh  de  Baliol,  and  others.  On  their  refusal  to  deliver  the  castle  up  to 
Hugh,  the  bishop,  the  Grand  Marshal  Pembroke  in  anger  raised  a  large  force,  and 
with  engines  of  war  battered  the  walls  for  eight  days,  when  the  castle  was  given 
up,  and  the  King  restored  the  lands  and  fortress  to  the  See  of  Lincoln. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Edward  VL,  Henry  Holbeach,  Bishop 
of  Lincoln,  among  other  alienations  of  his  See,  conveyed  the  castle  and  manor  of 
Newark  to  the  Crown,  w'hich  is  the  present  possessor.  In  November  1530  Cardinal 
Wolsey  lodged  here,  when  on  his  way  to  London,  under  the  charge  of  the  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury,  from  Cawood  Palace,  Yorkshire  {q.r.),  where  he  had  been  arrested 
for  high  treason,  and  called  back  to  London  for  trial.  Ill  with  dysentery,  the 
shock  and  anxiety  were  too  much  for  him  ;  and  by  the  time  that,  riding  on  a 
mule,  he  reached  Leicester,  he  was  well  spent,  and,  being  received  into  the  abbey 
at  that  town,  in  a  short  time  breathed  his  last. 

In  1569,  when  the  Earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmoreland  joined  "the 
Rising  of  the  North,"  and  raised  the  North  Country  in  defence  of  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots  and  the  Old  Faith,  the  army  raised  against  their  insurrection  in  the  S., 
under  the  Earl  of  Warwick  and  Lord  Clinton,  3000  strong,  collected  here. 
At  this  time  the  castle  was  occupied  by  Sir  Francis  Leeke,  to  whom,  in  1560,  a 
twenty-one  years'  lease  of  it  had  been  granted  at  an  annual  rent  of  fifty-three 
shillings  and  fourpence. 

On  April  21,  1603,  James  VI.  of  Scotland,  on  his  way  to  receive  the  throne  of 
England,  rested  in  Newark  Castle,  "  being  his  owne  house."  At  that  time  this 
castle  must  have  been  used  as  a  common  prison,  for  we  hear  that  the  new  King, 
after  hanging  a  pickpocket  without  any  form  of  trial — his  first  act  of  kingly  justice 
in  England — freed  all  the  "  poorest  and  wretched  prisoners,  clearing  the  castle  of 
them  all."  Next  day  James  departed  for  Belvoir,  "hunting  all  the  way  as  he 
rode." 

The  Civil  War  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  brought  unlimited  troubles  and 
suffering  upon  the  town  of  Newark,  and  destruction  ultimately  on  its  noble 
fortress,  in  great  measure  owing  to  its  proximity  to  the  Republican  stronghold  of 
Nottingham.   There  was  during  the  Civil  War  much  antagonism  between  the  two 


■■■''tliattlih 
■■"■■'■  *'ticli  U 

•  'M  01  them 
'"'wtVipont.Bnan 
Irothecastleiipto 
"  "^"  force,  anil 
-■;:;m5  given 
i  Lincoln. 
nHolbcli,BisliyB 


di 


lanorot 


■■".0  Cardinal 

.   I'.heEarlii 

«  y  been  arrested 

■'-fflterv,tlit 

.  ridiiit;  iin  s 
■i.  ihc  alitiev 

BteWl  joined  "tk 

"n- Queen  oi 
:;  in  the  S, 

.  ..cded  here, 
itowho[n,ini3&,i 
ail  rent  otiy-tliret 

•wii?  the  throne  o( 

:aat  time  this 

ariiulllienwH 
-■■•hindnn* 


,!vjiithemyasit 

■.roubles  and 

in  iti  noble 

v.ron«hoWoi 

„^We"tk«t" 


l» 


I 


I 


J^ 


i 


<! 


vi 


NOTTINGHAMSHIRE  ^^^ 

Oxford,  lie  came  to  Southwell,  accompanied  only  by  Mr.  Asliburnham,  and  thence 
to  Kclham,  w  here  he  was  received  by  certain  Scots  Commissioners  in  their  camp  ; 
but  the  Scots  leaders  repudiated  the  conditions  on  which  Charles  had  *  I 

made  him  virtually  a  prisoner.    He  was  in  a  poor  plight,  without  pro|x.-r  1 1  r 

attendants,  but  his  cajitors  showed  him  little  consideration,  and  tlie  first  thinf" 
they  exacted  was  an  order  from  him  to  Hellasis  for  the  surrender  of  Newark. 
Much,  then,  t(J  the  distress  of  the  brave  j^arrison,  articles  were  accordni;»ly  drawn 
up  between  the  Scots  and  Enj^lish  Conunissioners  and  Lord  Bellasis, as  (lovernor 
of  the  town  and  castle  of  Newark,  delivering  up  even>-tiiinj»  as  it  stiKxl,  but 
allowiuj^  the  garrison  to  march  out  with  their  arms,  their  liorse>,  and  jjoods. 
Then  the  Scots  army  broke  up,  and  marched  northw.ird,  with  tlie  Kinjj  in  tlicir 
midst,  to  Newcastle,  where  they  sold  him  to  the  Enj^lish  on  Febru;iry  3,  i^»47,  for 
^^'400, 000,  half  to  be  paid  in  cash  down,  and  the  balance  in  two  subsequent  instal- 
ments. It  is  said  that  Lord  Bellasis  was  afterwards  killed  in  France  in  a  drutiken 
quarrel,  when  the  title  became  extinct. 

While  at  Newark,  Charles  established  a  nunt  at  the  castle,  in  which  the  plate 
brou.^ht  ill  by  the  nobility  and  clerj^y  was  converted  into  half-crowns,  siiilltn};s 
and  sixpences  to  pay  the  troops  ;  the  shape  of  the  coin  is  that  of  a  lo/enjje,  and 
on  the  reverse  is  stamped  :  "  Obs.  Newark  1646." 

When  Bishop  Alexander  was  designing  his  castle  of  Newark  he  found  that  the 
site  of  it,  near  the  existing  bridge  over  that  branch  of  Trent,  was  restricted  by  the 
old  Roman  Foss  Way  running  parallel  to  the  stream  at  this  point,  and  he  there- 
fore obtained  from  King  Henry  I.  leave  to  divert  the  Foss  from  its  hue  along  the 
present  Castle  Street,  at  a  point  about  hall  a  mile  S.W.  of  the  castle,  in  a  more 
easterlv  direction,  as  niav  be  observed  on  this  road  at  the  present  time.  I  b- 
likewise  obtained  permission  to  erect  a  bridge  over  the  river. 

It  is  dit'licult  to  estimate  the  size  of  the  structure  from  the  present  remains, 
except  as  regards  the  length  of  the  river  front,  which  was  about  100  yards.  It 
was  protected  thus  on  the  W.  by  the  Trent,  and  on  the  other  three  sides  most 
probably  by  a  double  moat  fed  by  the  Devon  stream,  but  of  such  ditches  there 
are  no  vestiges  left.  The  castle  was  an  oblong  rectangular  structure,  built 
originally  of  oolite  stone,  three  and  four  storeys  in  height,  having  huge  square 
towers  at  tlie  lour  corneis,  and  an  entrance  gatehouse  at  the  N.  end,  with  a 
barbican  in  front,  admitting,  by  a  drawbridge  across  the  N.  moat,  direct  from  the 
road  at  the  Trent  bridge.  The  castle  was  rebuilt  in  the  lirst  quarter  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  externally  in  red  sandstone,  and  it  is  therefore  easy  to 
distinguish  the  original  Norman  work  which  remains  in  the  gateliouse,  the  S.W. 
tower,  and  in  a  garderobe  piojecting  from  the  river  front.  The  whi>le  of  tlie  K. 
front  and  S.  end  wall,  with  the  three  towers,  has  gone,  together  witli  the  internal 
buildings  and  the  ollices.  The  existing  hexagonal  tower  now  at  the  N.W..  is  of 
the  thirteenth  centnrv,  and  the  W.  facade  has  been  pierced  al  dilTeronI  tunc-  ft.r 
the  introduction  of  wilKlow^.     .\  verv  line   Perpendicular  oriel  wmdow  was  thus 


454  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

built  into  the  wall  of  the  hall  in  an  upper  stage,  and  several  other  windows  were 
added,  both  at  that  time,  and  in  Tudor  days  also.  Outside  on  this  front,  at  the 
foot  of  the  XAV.  tower,  remains  a  circular-headed  Norman  postern,  or  water-gate, 
and  a  portion  of  the  old  Xorinan  N.  wall  is  attached  to  the  gatehouse.  This 
entrance  is  a  massive  oblong  tower,  three  storeys  high,  measuring  45  feet  by  30  wide, 
the  walls  of  which  are  three  yards  thick.  Its  external  N.  face  has  two  immense 
buttresses,  one  on  each  side  of  the  semicircular  Norman  gateway  which  carries  the 
usual  ornamented  work,  and  in  the  passage  through  are  three  archways  and  a 
door  which  was  secured  by  wooden  bar  fastenings ;  a  staircase  turret,  octagonal 
in  shape,  is  on  the  E.  side,  and  there  is  a  stair  from  ground  level  to  roof,  con- 
trived in  the  wall,  which  does  not  communicate  internally,  but  gave  access  to  the 
wall.  What  remains  of  the  S.W.  tower  is  probably  a  sample  of  the  other  three 
corners.  In  it  is  part  of  a  room  which  tradition  gives  as  the  scene  of  the  death- 
bed of  King  John.  The  tower  is  rectangular,  measuring  24  feet  by  15,  and  con- 
tained four  floors.  At  the  N.  end  of  the  interior  is  a  vast  crypt  of  Early  English 
architecture,  which  sometimes  has  been  called  Norman,  the  uses  of  which  are 
doubtful  ;  above  it  were  the  hall  and  other  State  apartments. 

The  dismantling  or  "slighting"  began  on  May  11,  1646,  by  order  of  the 
Parliament,  and  was  continued  until,  by  use  of  powder  and  picks,  the  present 
wreck  was  brought  about. 

N OTTI N G H AM    (uon-cxistcnt) 

SITUATED  in  the  middle  of  England,  near  the  Foss  \\'ay,  and  commanding 
the  only  bridge  over  Trent,  by  which  the  road  from  the  S.  by  Leicester  to 
York  struck  northwards,  Nottingham  was  always  a  place  of  high  military  im- 
portance, and,  being  possessed  of  a  lofty  citadel  of  rock,  was  fortified  from  very 
early  times.  It  also  commanded  the  navigation  of  the  river  from  where  the 
union  with  the  Derwent  and  Soar  afforded  a  means  of  easy  internal  traffic,  the 
place  being  situated  on  a  bend  of  the  Trent,  not  far  from  this  confluence. 
Edward  the  Elder  took  Nottingham,  and  secured  it  (924),  by  placing  a  mound  and 
fortalice  on  the  S.  bank  of  the  river,  supporting  this  by  a  bridge  and  another  fort 
on  the  opposite  side. 

After  the  Conquest,  William  de  Peverel,  who  is  called  a  bastard  son  of  Uuke 
William,  obtained  grants  of  162  manors,  of  which  fifty-five  lordships  were  in 
Nottinghamshire,  and  he  had  forty-eight  tradesmen's  houses  given  him  in 
Nottingham  town.  William  I.  came  to  Nottingham  at  an  early  date  of  his  reign 
and  took  it,  and  he  either  built  a  castle  here  himself,  or  left  Peverel  to  do  so. 
Peverel's  son  supported  Stephen  in  the  Civil  War,  and  fought  at  the  battle  of  the 
Standard,  and  also  with  the  King  at  Lincoln,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner  with 
him  ;  and  during  the  absence  of  Peverel  the  castle  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Empress  Maud,  but  he  managed  to  regain  it  afterwards.     Henry  II.,  in  1155,  dis- 


NOTTINGHAMSHIRK 


455 


iiilicrited  this  William  IV-vcrel  upon  an  accusation  of  conspiring  by  witchcra/l  to 
poisijii  Raiuilpli,  Karl  of  Ciiester,  in  collusion  with  Maud,  tlie  Karl's  wife,  and  ^avc 
the  castle  and  town  of  Nottinj^hani  to  this  same  Karl.  I'cverel  then  assumed  a 
monk's  hahit,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  him  ;  hut  his  daujjhter,  Mar^iaret,  was 
married  to  William,  Karl  Ferrars  of  Derby,  who,  in  1174,  rose  in  rebclliun 
with  the  Ki life's  sons,  and  took  this  castle  a^jain  from  its  captain,  Robert  dc  Lac\'. 


Nurn.NOHA.M  As   II    WAS 


From  the  commencement  of  this  reij^n  the  castle  jienerally  bclonjicd  to  the 
Crown,  and  oftener  received  within  its  portals  the  Kin^s  and  yueens  of  Knulaiul 
than  any  other  fortress  in  the  land,  save  that  of  London.  Richard  1.  ("avc  it  to 
his  worthless  brother  John,  who,  fortifyinj^  himself  there  in  rebellion,  was  ousted 
by  William  de  Lon^champ,  Bishop  of  Kly,  whom  Richard  had  left  guardian  in 
his  absence.  Thereon,  Jnhii,  gathering  a  force,  came  northwards  in  i  nji.and  lcH>k 
the  castle  of  Tickhill,  and  then  comin;^  to  Notlinj^ham  he  took  this  also,  and  put 
it  into  a  state  of  defence  af^ainst  his  brother.  Richard  returned  in  March  1  n>4 
from  his  captivity,  and,  landing  at  Sandwich,  speedily  proceeded  lo  InrMejie 
Nottingham  in  iiersnn,  when,  after  forcinj^  some  of  the  outworks,  he  succcctled 
in  obtaining  its  surrender  from  John,  whom  he  magnanimuuslv  p  '  !  On 
obtaining  the  throne  John  freeiueiitiv  \.>-it,-,l  il.is  .  ..-Il, .  wlmh  ni  t:  linu-s 


456  CASTLES  OF   ENGLAND 

he  counted  as  his  safest  asykun,  at  one  time  shutting  liimself  up  in  it  with  a  few 
foreign  archers.  In  121 2  this  English  Nero  caused  the  hostages  of  Prince 
Llewelyn,  twenty-eight  youths  of  the  best  blood — mere  boys — to  be  hung  in  a 
row  on  the  ramparts. 

It  was  taken  in  the  Barons'  War  by  Robert  de  Ferrers  by  surprise,  and 
Henry  III.  was  there  in  1264,  and  again  after  Evesham.  Edward  II.  conferred 
the  office  of  Constable  upon  Piers  Gaveston  ;  and  some  years  after  happened  the 
episode  of  Queen  Isabella  and  Mortimer.  In  1330  Edward  III.  was  eighteen 
years  old  and  married,  and  if  not  sensitive  to  the  scandal  himself,  would  certainly 
be  made  aware  by  his  wife  and  cousin  Joan,  who  had  been  a  widow,  that  it  was 
a  disgrace  to  himself  and  his  country  to  allow  the  Queen  Mother  to  carry  on  the 
evil  life  she  was  living,  thus  openly,  with  the  detested  Mortimer,  together  with 
whom  she  had  occupied  Nottingham  Castle  for  three  years,  ever  since  the  pair 
of  them  had  contrived  the  atrociotis  murder  of  her  husband.  He  therefore  took 
counsel  with  his  friends,  and  calling  a  Parliament  to  meet  at  Nottingham,  repaired 
to  the  house  of  Sir  William  Eland  at  Algarthorpe,  two  miles  from  the  castle,  lying 
in  the  forest  of  Sherwood,  where  his  movements  would  be  screened  from  observa- 
tion. Eland  was  deputy-constable  of  the  castle,  and  when  the  difficulty  was 
discussed  as  to  how  the  capture  of  the  Earl  of  March  could  be  effected  at  night, 
since  the  "  She  Wolf  of  France  "  caused  the  keys  of  the  castle  every  evening  to  be 
"  layde  under  the  chemsell  of  her  beddis  hede  unto  the  morrow,"  he  proposed  to 
conduct  the  King  and  his  party  into  the  castle  by  a  secret  passage,  of  the  existence 
of  which  the  Queen  must  be  ignorant. 

And  here  it  becomes  necessary  to  give  some  account  of  the  ancient  castle  of 
Nottingham,  as  it  then  stood,  of  which  nothing  but  a  small  fragment  remains. 
On  the  sunuuit  of  the  sandstone  cliff  at  the  foot  of  which  flowed  the  Lene  river, 
was  built  the  inner  ward  on  its  S.W.  extremity,  a  rectangular  enclosure,  the  wall 
of  which  on  three  sides  capped  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  with  three  large  square 
towers  at  the  corners,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  fourth  side  stood  a  square  Norman 
keep,  near  to  which  was  the  entrance  gateway.  In  the  reign  of  John,  or  of  his 
son,  there  was  added  a  large  ward  exterior  to  this,  enclosing  the  whole  summit  of 
the  rock  with  a  high  wall,  flanked  by  strong  circular  mural  towers,  below  which 
ran  a  moat.  The  entrance  to  this  middle  court  was  by  a  drawbridge  over  the 
moat,  through  a  fine  square  gatehouse  tower,  and  up  an  ascending  flight  of 
postern  stairs  ;  the  lodgings  were  on  both  sides  of  the  wall  separating  this  court 
from  the  inner  one.  Outside  all  this,  at  the  foot  of  the  rock,  was  a  huge  outer 
court,  set  round  with  a  strong  wall  with  mural  towers,  and  having  its  own  moat 
and  entrance  gatehouse  defended  by  two  round  bastion  towers.  This  formed  an 
extensive  phicc  d'ciniics,  or  parade  ground,  and  completely  defended  the  two 
upper  wards  on  their  assailable  side.  A  sketch  of  this  magnificent  medianal 
castle  is  given  by  Mr.  Clark,  and  is  here  reproduced. 

In  an  account  of  Nottingham,  written  in   1806,  it  is  said  :  "  Nothing  is  left  of 


NOTTINGHAMSHIRE  4^7 

the  original  works  but  an  arched  way  of  descent,  down  the  s,illy|»jii,  il.  c 

rock  on  which  tlie  castle  stood,  called  Mortimer's  Hole.  The  arch  of  tli.  ...  ,.  c 
is  pointed,  and  here  steps  bej^in  the  descent  for  a  short  way,  hut  soon  there  is 
only  a  slope,  tedious  and  severe,  down  to  the  ground  at  the  base  of  llie  rock  ;  loop- 
holes for  lij^ht  and  shooting  arrows  are  cut  at  intervals."  It  was  up  th. 
107  yards  long,  7  feet  high  and  6  wide,  that  Eland  brought  the  young  i...,,  ...d 
Sir  William  Montagu  with  their  followers  on  P'riday  night,  October  19;  they  passed 
through  its  six  gates  and  emerging  in  the  centre  of  the  inner  ward,  forced  their 
way  into  a  room  next  to  the  Queen  Mother's  apartment,  where  they  found  Mortuner 
in  consultation  with  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln.  He  was  seized  and  wxs  lx:uig 
dragged  roughly  towards  the  passage,  when  Isabella  came  to  plead  for  her  "gentle 
Mortimer,"  that  they  did  not  hurt  him.  So  they  carried  him  off — down  to  the  foot 
of  the  castle  rock — and  took  him  to  London,  where,  after  a  sort  of  mock  trial, 
he  was  hung  at  Tyburn,  the  charge  against  him  being  this  curious  one  :  "  For 
betraying  his  country  to  the  Scots  for  money,  and  for  other  mischiefs  out  of  an 
extravagant  and  vast  imagination  designed  by  him." 

Montagu  was,  for  his  services,  elevated  to  the  earldom  of  Salisbury,  but  we  do 
not  hear  how  Eland  was  rewarded.  The  scene  with  Mortimer  is  rccordc"d  by 
Drayton. 

Richard  III.  made  Nottingham  his  chief  place  of  abode,  and  was  here  when 
Richmond  landed.  He  at  once  raised  his  standard  of  war  on  the  new  tower 
which  he  had  built  there,  and  prepared  for  the  conflict.  Un  August  21  he 
drew  out  his  forces,  probably  in  "the  Meadows,"  and  then  marched  against  the 
enemy,  who  was  said  to  be  at  Atherstone,  his  troops,  consisting  mostly  of 
infantry,  marching  five  abreast,  the  baggage  being  in  the  centre  of  the  column. 
Richard  himself,  with  his  staff  following,  was  mounted  on  a  white  charger 
("White  Surrey"),  and  his  line  of  inarch  was  flanked  by  cavalry  on  either  side. 
In  the  time  of  Edward  IV.  and  Richard  III.,  very  great  additions  were  made  to 
this  fortress,  but  in  the  next  century  it  fell  into  neglect.  The  castle  and  park  were 
granted,  in  1603,  to  P'rancis,  Earl  of  Rutland,  in  whose  time  a  great  part  of  tlie  old 
structure  was  pulled  down  and  tin.'  materials  sold.  Still  it  was  a  strong  place  in 
1642,  and  was  chosen  by  King  Charles  for  the  setting  up  of  his  standard  on  the 
opening  of  the  great  Civil  War.  This  standard  was  borne  by  Sir  H.  Verney,  the 
Knight  Marshal,  and  was  set  up  on  the  slope  of  the  hill  X.of  the  castle,  where  now 
is  Standard  Hill  Street,  but  the  weather  being  tempestuous,  it  was  blown  <lown  the 
same  night.  On  Charles's  departure  the  garrison  left  was  not  suflicient  to  hold  the 
place,  which  was  taken  in  hand  by  the  Tarliament,  and  so  continued.  The  next 
year  Colonel  Hutchinson  was  made  Governor  of  Nottingham,  and  in  his  memoirs, 
written  by  his  widow  {sec  Sandown,  KliNT),  Nottingham  Castle  is  thus  spoken  of : 
"The  buildings  were  very  ruinous  and  uninhabitable,  neither  .illording  room  to 
lodge  soldiers  nor  provisions.  The  castle  was  built  on  a  rock  and  M.uids  at  the 
end  of  the  town,  upon  such  an  eminence  as  commanded  the  chief  streets  of  llic 
VOL.    I.  3  M 


458  CASTLES   OF    ENGLAND 

town.  TIiL-re  was  a  strong  tower  wliich  tlicy  called  the  Old  Tower,  built  upon  the 
top  of  all  the  rock,"  and  then  is  related  the  story  of  Mortimer  and  the  Queen. 
"  At  the  top  of  the  rock  there  is  a  spring  of  water.  Midway  to  the  top  of  this  tower 
was  a  piece  of  rock  which  the  governor  utilised  by  forming  a  platform  for  two  or 
tliree  guns  commanding  some  of  the  streets,  and  all  the  meadows,  better  than  the 
tower  itself.  Under  that  tower,  which  was  the  old  castle,  there  were  other  buildings 
where  had  been  several  towers  and  many  noble  rooms,  but  most  of  them  were 
then  down  (1643).  The  yard  of  this  castle  was  large,  and  outside  its  gate  there 
had  been  a  very  large  walled  court,  but  the  walls  were  down."  Throughout 
the  rock  existed  caverns  of  unknown  origin  (as  at  Guildford),  extensive  enough  to 
hold  a  large  magazine  and  hundreds  of  soldiers,  if  cleared  out ;  in  one  of  these  it 
is  reported  that  David  of  Scotland  was  immured  for  many  years,  but  the  whole 
story  is  probably  fabulous.  After  the  battle  of  Neville's  Cross  the  young  King 
was  carried,  badly  wounded,  to  Bamburgh  (y.s'.),  whence,  on  his  partial  recovery, 
they  brought  him  to  London,  possibly  resting  at  this  castle  on  the  way  ;  but  he 
was  certainly  soon  after  in  the  White  Tower,  at  London,  and  there  are  records 
of  the  treatment  which  he  received  during  his  long  detention. 

In  the  "  Reports  "  of  the  Associated  Architectural  Societies,  vol.  xix.,  are  given 
many  details  of  this  once  mighty  fortress.  Dr.  Peter  Heglyn  is  said  to  have  visited 
it  liefore  its  desolation  (he  died  in  1662),  and  describes  it  as  being  even  then  "a 
royal  and  magnificent  building  of  great  strength  and  stateliness."  After  the  Civil 
War,  Captain  Thomas  Poulton  had  orders  and  money  sent  to  pull  down  the  castle, 
which  he  did  effectively,  and  it  is  said  that  the  Lord  Protector  on  coming  here 
expressed  himself  as  heartily  vexed  at  finding  the  place  thus  destroyed. 

The  Earl  of  Rutland's  daughter  and  heir  was  mother  to  George  Villiers, 
second  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  she  sold  the  place  to  the  Marquess  of  Newcastle, 
who  made  almost  a  clean  sweep  of  all  that  was  left ;  he  levelled  a  large  platform, 
upon  which  he  erected  a  huge  Italian  building,  said  to  be  designed  by  Wren, 
which  was  completed  in  1679.  This  is  the  structure  which  was  burnt  by  the 
mob  during  the  Reform  riots  of  1831,  and  for  which  the  county  paid  in  com- 
pensation ;^2 1,000. 

The  best  preserved  relics  of  the  old  castle  now  existing  are  the  gatehouse  and 
its  approaches,  supported  by  a  boldly  ribbed  arch  of  masonry,  and  the  wall,  which 
may  be  traced  from  this  spot  southwards  to  Brewhouse  Yard,  with  three  bastions 
remaining;  it  formerly  ran  N.W.  across  Standard  Hill,  where  it  joined  the  wall  of 
the  town,  in  which  there  was  a  postern,  built  by  order  of  Henry  III.,  near  the  spot 
occupied  by  Park  Lodge.  Nottingham  was  at  the  apex  of  its  glory  temp. 
Richard  III.,  but  nothing  was  done  in  repairs,  and  Henry  VII.,  finding  castles  at 
variance  with  his  form  of  government,  demolished  some  and  rendered  others 
useless,  so  from  this  time  the  decay  of  Nottingham  Castle  may  date,  though 
Elizabeth  ordered  extensive  repairs  to  it. 

In  1818,  at  the  back  of  Standard  Hill,  beneath  the  mass  of  earthwork  thrown 


NOTTINGHAMSHIRF. 

up  for  tlie  defence  of  Ricliard's  Tower  by  the  Parli:imeiitar>'  troops  on  obtain- 
ing possession,  there  was  chscovered  an  ancient  ;^uard-hoiiNe,  marked  ■  s 
from  1570  to  1640.  Mortimer's  Hole  is  the  only  cavern  now  o|H.-n  for  >; 
it  is  reached  by  forty-nine  steps  on  the  S.E.  of  the  castle,  and  th:  ..1 
gateways,  and  leads  from  the  castle  yard  to  Brewhouse  Yard,  at  tlic  foot  of  the  rock. 
Drayton  says  it  was  hewn  by  some  Saxon  king  during  a  Danish  invasion,  for  security 
in  case  of  a  siege,  and  the  passage  was  provided  with  no  less  than  six  gates. 

At  45  yards  below  the  fourth  gate,  on  the  left,  is  an  (jpening,  now  closed, 
which  was  found  to  lead  by  a  spiral  stair  up  into  the  site  of  the  ancient  keep, 
in  wiiich  were  the  State  apartments,  and  hence  was  concluded  to  be  the  very 
passage  known  only  to  Sir  \V.  Eland,  through  which  \\<-  .  ,,iu)n,  1, 1I  ICuig  Kdward 
and  his  armed  friends  to  the  capture  of  Mortimer. 

Leland's  account  is  interesting;  he  says:  "The  liase  Court  is  large  and 
metely  strong,  &  a  stately  bridge  is  there  with  pillars,  bearing  K-stes  & 
giants,  over  the  ditch  into  the  seconde  warde  ;  the  frontier  of  which  warde  in 
the  entering  is  exceedinge  stronge  with  toures  and  portcoleces.  Much  of  the 
west  side  of  this  inner  warde,  as  the  haul  &  other  thinges  be  yn  ruiiies.  The 
east  side  is  stronge  &  well  toured  ;  &  so  is  the  south  side.  But  the  moste 
beautifullest  and  gallant  building  for  lodging  is  in  the  north  side,  where  F^dward 
the  4th  began  a  right  sumptuous  pece  of  stone  work,  of  whicli  he  clerely  tinislied 
an  excellent  goodlie  tour  of  3  heights  yn  building,  &  brought  up  the  other  part 
likewise  from  the  foundation  with  stone  and  marvelus  fair  compaced  windows.  .  . 
The  dungeon  or  Keepe  of  the  castelle  stondith  by  Soutii  and  Kast,  &  is  exceed- 
ing strong,  (7  iiiiliint  loci  el  of'Cir.  Ther  is  an  old  fair  chapelle  it  a  wall  of  gre;it 
depthe." 

WIVKRTON,  OR  WELTOX  (miuor) 

WIVERTOX  lies  in  the  S.  of  the  county,  near  the  border  of  Leicestershire, 
about  nine  miles  E.  of  Nottingham. 

In  tile  reign  of  Henry  111.,  the  owner  of  the  lands  of  Wivcrton  wa.s  Sir  Henr\- 
de  Ileri/.,  Kiit.,  whose  daughter,  Joan,  married  Sir  Jordan  Bret;  their  grandstin. 
Sir  John  Bret,  left  a  daughter  and  heiress,  Alice,  who  lirought  Wiverton  to  her 
husband,  Sir  William  Chaworth,  and  his  son.  Sir  Thomas  Chaworth,  inherited  the 
property,  and  had  a  licence  (24  lleiuy  \'l.)  to  make  a  park  here  with  free  warren. 
He  it  was,  in  all  imibability,  who  binit  tiie  castle,  which  was  thenceforth  the  chief 
mansiou  of  his  successors. 

In  the  Civil  War  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  made  into  a  Ko>-aliKt 
garrison,  and  was  afterwards  pulled  down  and  destroyed,  "  with  the  exception  of 
tiir  old  uncovered  gatehouse,  which  yet  remains  (1O67),  a  monument  of  the 
magnificence  of  this  family."  (Thoroton.)  Sir  Thomas's  son  was  John,  I-ord 
Chaworth,  and  his  descendant,  in  i(>2j,  was  created  Viscount  Chaw..rih. 


460  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

A  drawing  of  the  gatehouse  shows  a  grand  Tudor  building,  with  three  circular 
towers  in  front,  between  two  of  which  is  the  principal  gateway,  with  a  low-pointed 
arch  below  the  house  ;  this  is  in  two  storeys  above  the  ground  floor,  having  a 
range  on  both  of  flat-headed  windows,  extending  across  the  whole  frontage.  The 
centre  tower  is  larger  than  the  other  two,  and  contains  the  staircase  with  a  door 
at  the  ground  level. 

WORKSOP   {noH-cxistmt) 

THE  manor  was  held  by  Roger  de  Busli,  or  Buili,  a  favourite  of  the 
Conqueror  {sec  Tutbury),  who  died  1099,  and  his  son,  Roger,  dying  s.p. 
(temp.  Henry  I.),  the  vast  accumulation  of  property  held  by  him  went,  whether 
by  marriage  or  otherwise  is  not  known,  to  William  de  Lovetot,  the  founder 
of  Worksop  monastery  and  the  builder  of  this  castle. 

There  is  no  historical  intelligence  to  be  found  about  the  castle,  but  it  is 
affirmed  by  Holland,  in  his  "  History  of  Worksop,"  that  it  existed  on  the  N.W.  side 
of  Worksop  town,  being  built  of  the  same  red  friable  sandstone  as  was  employed 
at  Nottingham  Castle.  It  was  probably  of  a  rectangular  form,  and  had  a  keep  on 
the  rock.  Its  demolition  was  completed  three  centuries  ago,  and  not  a  vestige 
remains.  Leland  writes  :  "There  is  a  place  now  invironyd  with  trees  cawlyd  the 
Castelle  Hill,  where  Lovetoftes  had  sumtime  a  castel."  And  elsewhere  :  "  The 
olde  castelle  on  a  hill  by  the  towne  is  clene  downe,  scant  knowen  where  it  was. 
The  stones  of  the  castel  were  fetchid,  as  sum  say,  to  make  the  fair  lodge  in 
Wyrksoppe  Parke,  not  yet  finished.  But  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  chanons 
had  the  mines  of  the  castel  stones  to  make  the  closure  of  their  large  waulles." 

Holland  says  that  the  upper  platform  on  the  surface  of  Castle  Hill  measures 
about  60  yards  across,  but  all  traces  of  the  original  appearance  of  the  site 
have  been  obliterated.  The  place  is  still  environed  with  trees  of  two  or  three 
generations  since  Leland. 

The  twelfth  Duke  of  Norfolk,  inheriting  Worksop  direct  from  the  Lovetots,  in 
1840  sold  the  manor  for  ^^350,000  to  the  fourth  Duke  of  Newcastle,  whose  grand- 
son is  the  present  lord  of  the  manor. 


MACKWORTIl 


2)evb\>sbire 


BOLSOVKR  {chief) 

WIllCX  tlic  Domesday  Book  was  compiled  tliis  castle  beloii^ied  to 
William  Peverel,  a  natural  son  of  the  Conqueror,  who  obtained 
six  lordships  in  Derbyshire,  and  who  seems  to  have  built 
Bolsover,  as  he  probably  did  also  the  Peak  Castle.  It  is  situated 
on  a  commanding  rocky  elevation  overlookin}«  a  larj^e  extent  of  countrv  in  the 
Scarsdale  valley,  and  is  itself  a  conspicuous  object.  William  Peverel,  ->"  ""' 
successor  in  1142  of  the  founder,  beini*  accused  of  complicity  in  p' 
K'annlpli,  V.:u\  of  Chester  (temp.  Stephen),  in  1153,  fled  the  countrv.  and  his 
estates  were  forfeited  to  the  Crown,  some  part  of  them  beinj»  allowed  to  ^;o 
to  his  dauj^hter.  Richard  Ctvur  de  Lion  j^ave  Holsovcr  to  his  brother.  John, 
together  with  the  castle  of  the  Peak  ;  and  after  John's  accc«wion  he  fjmnted  it  lo 
his  favourite,  William  Briswere.  Both  Bolsover  and  the  Peak  were  foiin-ss^-s  of 
importance  in  the  troublous  times  of  this  turbulent  sovereij^n,  and  were  .it  first 
held  for  the  King,  but  were  soon  forcibly  acipiired  by  the  strong  |urty  of  the 
Barons  ;  then  when,  after  Magna  Charta,  the  Barons  were  cowed  by  the  King'- 
violence,  supported  by  his  foreign  troops,  these  tw<i  Derbyshire  castles  were,  with 
many  others,  retaken  by  John  fin  1215).  with  the  aid  of  William  Kerrars,  Karl  of 
Derbv,  who  held  them  bnth   till  (lerard  de  Kurnival  was  ap|Miinle<l  by  the  King  to 


462 


CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 


reside  at  Bolsover  for  the  quieting  of  the  countr}-,  and  he  retained  this  and  Peak 
Castle  for  six  years.  Thenceforth,  the  Crown  appointed  various  custodians  ;  the 
castle  was  granted  as  an  inheritance  to  the  Earls  of  Chester,  and  John  Scot,  the  last 
earl,  dyings./).,  (22  Henry  111.),  his  sister,  Ada,  carried  it  to  her  husband,  Henry 
Hastings,  Lord  Abergavenny ;  but  later  it  reverted  to  the  Crown  again  by 
e.xchange;  King  Henry,  being  unwilling  that  the  county  of  Chester,  to  which 
Bolsover  belonged,  should  be  "  parcelled  out  among  distaffs,"  gave  other  lands 
to  the  sisters  of  Earl  John,  and  in  39  Henry  III.,  Roger,  son  of  Nigel  de  Lovetot, 
was  made  governor.  In  35  Henry  VI.,  Edmund  Hadham,  Earl  of  Richmond, 
died  possessed  of   the   castle  ;    and    in    5    Henry   VIII.,   Thomas    Howard,    on 

obtaining  the  Dukedom  of  Norfolk,  received 
in  reward  for  his  services  in  France  a  grant 
in  tail  of  the  castles  of  Bolsover  and  Horeston, 
but  on  his  son's  attainder  in  1547  they  were 
escheated  to  the  Crown.  Edward  VI.  then 
granted  the  castle,  for  fifty  years,  to  the 
Talbots,  who,  in  1608,  handed  it  over  to  Sir 
Charles  Cavendish,  Knt.,  for  1000  years,  at 
£10  per  annum  rent,  and  afterwards  sold  it 
to  him.  At  this  time  the  old  castle,  which  is 
supposed  to  have  stood  near,  or  on  the  site  of 
the  present  buildings,  was  in  ruins,  having 
been  so  judged  in  Leland's  time,  and  Caven- 
dish at  once  commenced  the  erection  of  a 
new  castle,  which  had  been  designed  and 
partly  begun  by  his  mother,  Lady  Shrews- 
bury, once  "  Bess  of  Hardwick,"  and  he 
finished  the  building  in  1613.  Sir  Charles  died  in  1617,  and  was  buried  at 
Bolsover.  His  eldest  son,  William,  afterwards  earl,  marquess,  and  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  entertained  Charles  I.  here  in  1633  very  sumptuously  indeed,  at  an 
expense  altogether  of  Xi4,ooo  to  Xi 5,000,  one  dinner  alone  costing  ^^4000;  the 
King  at  the  time  residing  at  Welbeck.  The  existing  buildings  had  not  then  been 
completed. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  the  Earl  of  Newcastle,  being  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Royalist  forces  in  the  North  and  Midlands,  placed  a  garrison  in 
Bolsover,  and  came  there  in  December  1643.  In  August  1644,  the  place  was 
taken  by  Major-General  Crawford,  and  the  earl  retired  to  the  continent.  In  his 
absence,  the  Parliament  sold  Bolsover  for  its  materials,  but  after  a  great  deal  of 
destruction  had  been  worked.  Sir  Charles  Cavendish  repurchased  the  structure, 
at  great  disadvantage,  for  his  brother. 

Of  Peverel's  Norman  castle  nothing  is  now  visible,  and  the  oldest  portion 
existing  IS  the  Early  English  archway  joining  the  late  ruined  buildings  to  the 


BOLSOVER 


Dl.Rin.SllIKI'.  ^63 

circular  wall,  this  wall  bcinL;  (he  next  in  dale,  and  Lnclu^ni}4  llic  inner  ward.  It 
was  erected  perhaps  towards  the  end  of  the  liftcentli  century.  Wilinn  this  space  is 
the  great  square  keep,  whose  X.W.  face  is  included  in  the  |x-riphtT>',  the  rest  of 
the  wall  being  14  feet  iiigli  without  tlie  i>attlements,  whicli  have  vanished.  Tliis 
keep  was  built  in  the  early  days  of  James  1.,  and  was  completed  about  161  v  It  is 
60   feet  square  and  90  in   height,  and   is  as  perfect  a>  vi. Inn  \„<',\t  ;  the  N.  angle 


BULsuVtk 


forms  a  loftv  ami  strong  tower  in  itself,  overtopping  the  rest  of  the  building. 
which  is  three  storeys  high  ;  the  other  angles  are  formed  by  projecting  pilasters 
in  the  Norman  style.  The  basement  contains  the  kitchen  and  ollices,  sup|Mirting 
the  upper  stages  on  groined  vaults  and  pillars.  One  curious  feature,  noted  by 
Mr.  Downman  ("History  of  Bolsover,"  1895),  is  that  tlie  masonry  of  the  walls  of 
tlie  top  floor  is  thicker  than  that  of  the  lower  storeys. 

Stretching  southward  from  the  \V.  point  of  the  inner  ward  is  a  Ion-  and  broad 
terrace,  along  which  extends  the  vast  pile  of  Hess  of  Hardwick's  construction, 
which  now  stands  in  utter  ruin,  roofless  and  covered  with  ivy  ;  and  at  nearly  rijjht 
angles  to  this  is  the  long  range  of  apartments,  erected  later,  and  forming  the  S. 
front  of  the  outer  ward.  The  entrance  is  by  a  large  staircase,  and  <iver  the  (U>or 
are  the  Cavendish  arms  ;  a  vaulted  hall  is  here  entered,  and  next  a  grand  dining- 
room,  with  a  column  in  the  midst,  and  a  drawing-room  40  feel  long. 


464  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

Below  the  W.  terrace  and  along  the  brink  of  the  long  hillside  was  a  range  of 
watch  towers,  four  in  number,  erected  perhaps  during  the  Civil  War ;  and  from 
the  centre  of  this  line,  near  the  church,  extended  a  long  range  of  earthworks 
curving  away  eastward  to  the  high  ground  on  that  side  of  the  castle,  a  relic  also 
doubtless  of  those  troublous  times. 

In  the  neighbourhood  is  the  old  hall,  built  probably  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII.,  which,  for  a  short  time,  was  occupied  by  the  hapless  Queen  of  Scots, 
during  one  of  her  many  migrations  under  the  direction  of  her  gaoler,  the  Earl 
of  Shrewsbury. 

CODNOR   {mhior) 

FORMERLY  called  Contenor,  formed  a  portion  of  the  immense  estates  given 
to  William  Peverel  by  the  Conqueror,  and  was  afterwards  an  ancient  seat 
of  the  de  Grey  and  Zouch  families  ;  it  is  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  E.  side  of  the 
county  near  the  border  of  Notts,  S.S.E.  of  Alfreton,  in  the  parish  of  Heanor.  The 
ruins  of  the  castle  stand  on  a  slight  eminence  overlooking  the  valley  of  the 
Erewash,  and  consist  of  the  remains  of  a  defensible  mansion  dating  from  the 
thirteenth  century ;  they  are  about  a  mile  distant  from  Codnor  Park  Station. 
The  manor  was  held  in  1211  by  Richard  de  Grey,  and  Codnor  Castle  became  the 
seat  of  the  elder  branch  of  his  family.  Henry  de  Grey,  the  first  of  the  name 
whom  we  know  as  possessing  Codnor  and  Heanor,  married  Isolda,  heiress  of  a 
family  who  took  their  name  from  the  place,  and  was  one  of  Henry  lll.'s  coun- 
cillors in  1257 — "a  man  of  unusual  learning  and  moderation."  He,  with  his  son 
John,  was  a  steadfast  supporter  of  the  King  in  the  Barons'  War,  whilst  his  other 
son  Richard  took  the  popular  side.  These  two  sons  had  in  early  days  so  pleased 
the  King  by  their  ready  vo'>vs  as  Crusaders  when  other  people  hung  back  that 
"  he  kissed  them  like  brothers  ; "  but  later,  Richard,  being  governor  of  Dover 
Castle,  in  1263,  closed  the  gates  of  that  fortress  in  the  King's  face  when  he  sought 
to  enter ;  afterwards  he  fought  on  the  Barons'  side  at  Lewes  and  Evesham,  and 
being  made  prisoner  after  the  latter  fight,  as  he  had  been  previously  in  Prince 
Edward's  surprise  of  Kenilworth  {q.v.),  his  name  appears  on  the  list  of  the  disin- 
herited rebels  after  the  war.  His  loyal  brother  is  satirised  in  a  French  political 
poem  of  that  century,  referring  to  his  escape  from  a  London  mob  : 

"  Mfes  mi  Sire  Jon  de  Gray 
Vint  a  Londres,  si  ne  sai  quoy 

Que  must  une  destance 
Par  entre  Lundres  et  ly, 
Que  tot  son  hernois  en  perdi ; 
Ce  fut  sa  meschance." 

(Blaauw.) 

But  this  division  of  a  family  between  the  two  parties — a  device  not  unknown  in 


DERRYSHIRF.  ^^^ 

Jacobite  times— at  all  events  retaiiieil  the  pi operly  succession,  and  J<jhn  dc  (;rcy 
accordinjtjly  reaped  the  reward  of  his  loyalty.  His  descendant,  Jolm  (k- (;rcv  .>f 
Codnor,  was  a  warrior  who  distin},'uished  iiimself  in  the  wars  ot  Ktlward  II.  and 
in  p:dwar(l  lll.s  wars  in  Scotland,  and  was  held  in  much  favour  by  that  monarcii, 
beinj,'  freed  by  him  (39  Edward  111.)  from  all  future  militar>-  scnicc.  Hih 
grandson,  Sir  Richard  Grey  of  Codnor,  fought  beside  Henry  V.  at  il  '  '  of 
his  Derbyshire  tenants  and  retainers,  222  in  all,  "lancers  and  arch.  ;hc 

battle  of  Agincourt  in  1415,  and  he  was  employed  by  that  King  to  bring  back 
from  Scotland  the  son  of  Henry  "Hotspur"  Percy.  He  died  in  142K,  and  his 
grandson  Henry,  the  last  Baron  Grey  of  Codnor,  died  in  i4(/>,  when  his  est.itcs 
fell  to  Sir  John  Zouch,  who  had  married  Henry's  aunt,  Kli/abeth,  lu-in;:  a  vmniL'iT 
son  of  Lord  Zouch  of  Haringworth. 

After  holding  the  property  for  six  generations  the  Zouclies,  in  10^4,  xild  this 
manor  and  castle  to  the  family  of  Xeile,  from  whom  it  was  purchased,  in  Wj«;2,  bv 
Sir  Streynsham  Masters,  who  is  known  to  have  lived  at  the  cxstle  ;  at  that  tunc 
even  it  was  in  ruins. 

In  the  "Journal"  of  the  Derbyshire  Archa-ological  Societv,  vol.  .\iv.,  i).  an 
interesting  paper  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Kerry,  describing  the  ruins  of  Codnor,  and 
giving  a  plan  and  drawings  of  them.  In  the  si.xteenth  century  the  castle  consisted 
of  two  large  rectangular  courts  or  wards,  separated  by  a  thick  wall  whicli  must 
have  been  the  original  S.  wall  of  the  N.  court,  and  which  still  remains  with  its 
two  circular  corner  towers  and  two  central  ones,  which  look  like  the  original 
flanking  towers  of  the  gateway  or  entrance.  The  E.  wall  of  the  N.  court  over- 
looks the  Erewash  valley,  the  S.  end  of  it  being  partly  of  squared  freesti»ne  like 
the  towers  (about  A.D.  1200),  and  having  at  top  work  of  the  fourteenth  century. 
Projecting  from  the  outside  of  this  wall  at  the  X.E.  corner  was  once  a  chief 
part  of  the  castle,  with  two  rectangular  towers.  A  farmhouse,  still  standing,  was 
built  out  of  tlic-  masonry  in  1640,  and  it  is  said  that  no  less  than  si.\  farm  steadings 
have  been  made  out  of  this  quarry. 

The  place  was  originally  surrounded  by  a  moat,  and  a  fishpond  still  remains, 
the  water  of  which  was  never  known  to  fail.  There  used  to  be  an  old  local 
saying  : 

"  When  Codnor's  pond  runs  dry, 
The  lordes  may  say  good  bye." 

An  extensive  park  of  3000  acres  was  once  attached  to  the  casllc,  long  since 
converted  into  tillage.  Codnor  was  sold  in  1863  by  the  M;ister  family  to  the 
Butterly  Iron  Company,  who  still  own  the  jilace.  There  exists  a  romantic  p«KiM, 
published  about  1820,  and  dedicated  to  Sir  W.ilter  Scott,  entitled  "  I)e  Grey  :  a 
Tale  of  Codnor  Castle."  Buck  gives  a  drawing  of  the  rums  as  lluy  were  in  1727. 
In  vol.  iv.  of  the  above  journal  the  Rev.  C.  Cox  alVirms  th.at  there  was  a  chajx:! 
in  Heanor  parish  attached  to  the  extensive  castle  of  Cotlnor,  and  that  m  a  field 
VOL.    I.  i^ 


466  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

called  Church  Close,  forty  yards  N.  of  the  ancient  dwelling  at  Ormonde  Fields, 
and  500  yards  W.  of  the  castle,  have  been  dug  up  a  stone  font  and  some  interments. 
The  Greys,  and  their  successors  the  Zouches,  were  buried  at  Heanor.  The  name 
of  the  family  to  which  Codnor  belonged,  soon  after  the  Norman  Survey,  was 
originally  Warner.  The  race  ended  in  the  heiress,  Isolda,  as  before  stated.  Her 
husband,  Sir  Henry  Grey,  was  living  at  Codnor  in  1208,  but  in  time  the  Heanor, 
or  Ormonde  Fields,  estate  was  alienated  by  the  Greys,  about  1430,  to  a  family 
named  Clarke.  The  heiress  of  these  owners,  Anna  M.  C.  Clarke,  in  1805,  married 
Walter,  eighteenth  Earl  of  Ormonde,  created  Marquess  in  1816,  and  in  1827  about 
1000  acres  of  the  property  were  sold  by  the  Ormonde  trustees  to  Woolley,  and 
were  purchased  in  1889  by  j\lr.  Fred.  Channer  Corfield,  the  present  owner  of 
Ormonde  Fields,  who  is  himself  a  descendant  of  the  Greys. 

The  boundary  between  the  properties  of  Codnor  Castle  (which,  with  about 
1400  acres,  belong  to  the  \\'right  family,  of  Butterly)  is  still  known  as  the  Buck 
Leap.  Adjoining  is  the  ground  called  the  Scarlet  Closes,  from  a  tradition  of  a 
bloody  battle  fought  there  between  the  Greys  and  the  forces  of  a  neighbouring 
lord  who  attempted  to  destroy  the  castle  and  kill  its  owner.     (Cox.) 


I 


DUFFIELD   (mn-cxisfett() 

T  was  known  that  a  castle  had  existed  near  Duffield  in  bvgone  ages,  but  there 
were  no  visible  traces  of  it,  and  its  locality  could  only  be  guessed  at  from 
the  fact  that  a  certain  field  on  a  neighbouring  height  bore  the  name  of  Castle 
Field,  and  contained  the  remains  of  old  earthworks  ;  but  these,  in  the  absence 
of  any  masonry,  could  not  be  connected  with  the  ancient  fortress  of  the  great 
family  of  Ferrers.  It  was  only  in  December  1885  that  the  owner  of  the  lands, 
wishing  to  investigate,  caused  some  pits  to  be  dug  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  in 
question,  when  some  old  masonry  was  discovered.  Further  excavations  resulted 
in  the  laying  bare  of  the  foundations  and  lower  courses  of  a  very  large  square 
building,  the  walls  of  which  were  five  yards  thick,  being  evidently  the  remains  of 
a  Norman  keep,  and  thus  proving  the  position  of  the  old  Derbyshire  seat  of  the 
Ferrars,  Earls  of  Derbv. 

The  situation  is  on  the  top  of  a  hill  rising  gradually  from  the  river  Derwent,  and 
falling  thence  abruptly  to  the  road  between  Helper  and  Duffield  ;  in  front  is  a  ford 
on  the  river,  about  four  miles  above  the  old  Roman  station  of  Derventio,  or  Little 
Chester,  lying  on  the  opposite  bank.  The  site  of  the  castle  is  about  46  feet  above 
the  road  in  rear,  and  77  feet  above  the  ford,  which  it  thus  commanded.  It  would 
appear,  from  a  careful  examination  of  the  earthworks  around  the  castle,  and  from 
the  relics  of  Celts  and  pottery  dug  up,  that  they  belonged  to  a  Celtic  or  British 
fortification,  embracing  an  area  of  over  five  acres,  which  perhaps  succeeded  a 
Roman  work  or  house  of  some  sort  upon  the  same  site.  Then  had  come  the 
Saxon,  and  on  the  top  had  raised  the  usual  mound,  or  burh,  the  summit  of  which 


DERBYSHIRE 


467 


had  been  cut  off  or  levelled  by  tlie  Norin;iii  warrior,  in  his  turn,  in  order  to  adapt 
the  inouiid  to  carry  his  ponderous  keep,  or  donjon. 

At  the  time  of  the  Conquest  the  lands  here  were  held  by  Siward.  and  all 
estates  held  under  this  name  in  Derbyshire  were  Rranted  by  the  Coiujucror  to  his 
comrade,  Henry  de  Ferrars,  whose  family  name  thenceforth  becomes  mtimately 
bound  up  with  Duftield.  The  liistory  of  these  Ferrars,  or  Ferrers.  Ka. Is  ,.f  I krbv. 
has  been  noted  in  the  account  of  their  chief  residence,  Tutburv,  Statlurdshirc  (./.; .). 
The  father  of  the  said  Henry  de  Ferrers  is 
said  to  have  been  one  Walkelyn,  lord  of 
Ferrieres  St.  Hilaire,  near  Bernay  in  Nor- 
mandy, who  died  in  1038,  and  the  name 
is  said  to  have  been  derived  from  iron- 
works on  their  property ;  but  the  ever 
present  horseshoe  badge,  adopted  by  the 
bearers  of  all  forms  of  the  name,  points 
to  the  Marcchal,  or  de  Ferrariis  origin. 
The  line  ended  in  the  person  of  that  tur- 
bulent yoimg  baron,  Robert,  who,  after 
his  many  vagaries  with  the  rebellious 
barons  of  Hcnr\'  III.,  being  pardoned  and 
dismissed,  at  once  began  to  spread  dis- 
affection again  in  Derbyshire,  when  the 
King    sent     his    nephew,    Prince     Henry, 

against  him.  Earl  Robert  thought  to  receive  the  enemy  at  Duftield,  but 
the  Prince  made  a  detour  by  W'irksworth  towards  Ciiesterfield,  in  order  to 
intercept  some  of  the  rebel  troops,  to  support  wliom  tiie  Earl  then  pro- 
ceeded, arriving  at  Chesterfield  just  as  the  attack  on  them  was  commenced  by 
Prince  Henry.  Then  ensued  the  battle  of  Chesterfield,  which,  keenly  fought  on 
both  sides,  ended  in  the  rout  of  the  insurgents,  who  took  refuge  in  the  town. 
Ferrers  hid  himself  under  some  wool-packs  deposited  in  the  churcii  (the  cl)urch 
of  the  wonderful  twisted  spire),  but  he  was  betrayed  by  a  girl  whose  lover  had 
been  made  to  join  the  rebel  force,  and  had  been  killed  in  the  fight.  The  carl 
was  taken  to  London  and  attainted,  and  though  his  life  w.is  spared,  his  lands  were 
conliscated,  and  given  to  Prince  Edmund,  afterwards  created  Earl  of  Lanc.islcr. 
Thereafter  the  Derbyshire  estates  of  Ferrers  followed  the  fortunes  «>f  this 
earldom,  afterwards  the  dukedom,  of  Lancaster,  and  are  still  mostly  a  part  of  the 
Duchy.  The  country  tradition  is  that  the  castle  of  Duftield  was  demolished  aflcr 
the  battle  of  Cheslerrield,  and  thoroughly  was  the  work  done.  There  i>  cvidcnco. 
from  the  presence  of  old  dressed  stones  in  tlie  ancient  neighbouring  bridge,  and 
in  the  cottages  and  fences  about,  bearing  Norman  marks,  that  its  rnins  utrrc  used 
as  a  quarrv. 

The  knoll  at  the  head  of  Castle  Field  is  steep  on  the  N.E.  and  S.  sides,  hut 


'-ciis<r<> 


ULIFIELD 


^68  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

slopes  with  a  neck  of  falling  ground  towards  the  \\\,  on  which  side  a  broad  ditch 
was  cut  across  this  neck  and  round  to  the  N.  and  E.  The  keep  measures  93  feet 
by  91,  to  its  squared  groins,  showing  that  it  was  one  of  the  largest  in  England. 
The  whole  W.  front  is  occupied  with  the  foundations  of  the  fore-building,  which, 
as  at  Dover,  contained  the  staircase  of  approach  to  the  second  floor,  and  probably 
other  rooms.  The  structure  was  built  of  rubble  with  ashlar  facing,  and  it  was 
divided  by  a  cross  wall,  running  E.  and  \V.,  into  two  unequal  divisions,  forming 
on  the  S.  rooms  on  each  floor  of  about  O3  feet  by  42  feet,  and  on  the  N.  of  63  feet 
by  17  feet.  In  the  N.W.  and  S.E.  corners  are  the  beginnings  of  large  spiral 
staircases,  and  in  the  S.W.  corner  is  the  well,  which  was  discovered  and  cleared 
out  ;  it  measures  80  feet  in  depth,  and  was  found  to  be  full  of  burnt  wood  and 
fragments  of  carved  stones,  with  Norman  axe-work ;  in  it,  too,  were  found  bones, 
ancient  iron  knives,  and  a  Norman  prick-spur ;  and  at  the  very  bottom  was  the 
well  bucket,  of  oaken  staves  with  its  irons,  which  had  rested  there  for  over  600 
years.     In  its  dimensions  this  keep  much  resembles  Dover. 

In  the  centre  of  the  large  basement  is  a  seiuare  block  of  masonry  from  which 
has  risen  a  circular  shaft,  no  doubt  for  the  support  of  the  beams  of  the  floor 
above,  as  in  the  case  of  the  basement  of  the  Wakefield  Tower  in  the  Tower 
of  London,  where  the  old  oaken  pillar  and  head  beams  of  Edward  III.  have  of 
late  years  been  removed  in  order  to  form  a  stone  vault  for  carrying  the  Jewel 
Chamber. 

Many  of  the  stones  are  discoloured  by  the  action  of  hre,  which,  with  the 
charred  wood  and  ashes  found,  shows  that  the  castle  was  destroyed  bv  burning  ; 
and,  no  record  existing  of  an  order  for  its  demolition,  it  is  reasonable  to  infer 
that  it  was  burnt  by  Prince  Henry  after  the  battle  of  Chesterfield.  A  careful 
scrutiny;  has  failed  to  show  any  remains  of  outer  buildings. 

G  RES  LEY  {non-existent) 

THE  site  of  this  castle,  of  which  no  remains  exist,  is  on  the  borders  of 
Leicestershire,  six  miles  from  Ashby-de-la-Zouch.  Lysons  states  that  the 
manor  of  Castle  Gresley  belonged  from  a  very  early  period  to  the  ancient  family 
of  de  Gresley,  who  had  a  castle  at  this  place,  and  took  their  name  from  it.  In 
Camden's  time  (1582)  there  were  some  remains  of  the  mansion,  but  the  family 
had  long  left  Gresley  to  live  at  Drakelow,  another  manor  which  their  ancestor, 
Nigel  de  Stafford,  had  in  Domesday.  GeoiTrey  de  Gresley,  in  1330,  claimed  a  right 
of  gallows  at  both  places,  and  the  Gresleys  represented  the  county  in  Parliament 
at  various  times  since  Edward  I.  George  Gresley  was  installed  a  Knight  of  the 
Bath  at  the  coronation  of  Queen  Anne  Boleyn  in  1534,  and  his  great  grandson 
was  created  a  baronet  in  161 1.  Sir  George  Gresley  was  a  Lieutenant-Colonel 
and  an  active  oflicer  under  the  Parliament  in  the  war  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
The  place  still  belongs  to  the  same  family. 


DERBYSHIRF  ^65 

The  site  can  only  be  distin;^'iiishecl  at  tlie  prc^cm  day  ny  ijie  inequalities  ul  the 
ground. 


HO  REST  ON,  OK  HORSLKY  (_,wH.txUu,,i) 

THIS  was  a  manor  wliicli,  in  llie  Domesday  Siir\-cy,  Ix-lonj^cd  to  K;ilj>h  dc 
Buron,  whose  descendants  held  it  for  over  a  hundred  years.  They 
possessed  a  castle  here,  called  Horeston,  of  wliich  some  traces  remain,  alK>ut 
6  miles  N.  of  Derby.  Roger  de  Buron  died  in  i  lyij,  when  certain  works  ucrc 
e.\ecuted  at  the  castle  of  Horeston,  and  his  son  and  heir,  kolx-rt,  married  Ceciha, 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  Richard  Clayton,  of  Clayton,  Lanc;Lslure,  to  which 
place  the  Huron's,  or  Byrons,  migrated,  and  they  lived  there  until  at  the  DismiUi- 
tion  they  obtained  from  Henry  VI U.  the  abbey,  or  rather  priory,  of  Newstead. 
One  of  these  Burons  was  a  Crusader,  and  is  mentioned  thus  by  Ixjrd  Byrorj  : 

"  Near  Askalon's  towers  John  of  Horeston  sluiiilicrs." 

King  John  in  some  manner  acquired  this  castle,  whicli,  in  i  J14,  i->  design.itcd  a 
Royal  castle,  and,  witii  the  lands,  was  granted  to  William  de  Ferrars,  Karl  of 
Derby,  for  the  purpose  of  affording  a  secure  residence  ff)r  his  countess  while  he 
was  absent  in  the  Holy  Land.  Just  then,  however,  broke  (nit  the  Civil  War  with 
the  Barons,  and  this  earl,  a  faithful  supporter  of  the  bad  Kmg,  took  by  assault 
the  castles  of  the  Peak  and  Bolsover,  and  thus,  with  Dultield,  iield  all  the  chief 
fortresses  of  Derbyshire. 

In  1225  a  list  of  nineteen  inmates  of  this  castle  is  given  in  the  Calendar  of 
Fines,  with  the  lands  they  occupied  in  the  vicinity  of  the  fortress;  and  throughout 
that  centuiv,  as  alscj  during  the  fourteenth,  various  appointments  were  made  by 
the  Crown,  and  recorded,  of  its  governors.  In  1250  Peter  de  Montfort,  .1  kinsman 
of  the  great  earl  and  a  councillor  of  the  King,  held  Horeston,  he  being  afterw;irds 
killed,  on  the  Barons'  side,  at  Evesham. 

Horsley  was  granted,  in  1255,10  Hugh  Despencer,  and,  in  i3(;2,  to  John  dc 
Holland,  Karl  of  Huntingdon,  for  his  lifetime.  In  1453  Henry  VI.  In-stowed  the 
castle  and  lordship  of  Horeston  on  Edmund  Hadham,  Earl  of  Kichmond,  and 
then  it  came  to  Jasper,  Earl  of  Pembroke. 

In  15 14  the  castle  and  manor  of  Horsley  were  given  by  Henry  Vlil.  to  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk  in  part  recognition  of  his  services  at  Flodden  Field  the  previous 
year,  and  the  Duke,  in  1530,  conveyed  the  estate  to  Sir  Michael  St.inlio|K-,  from 
whom  it  descended  to  the  Earls  of  Chesterfield,  one  of  wli-"  -■M  the  m.mor  and 
castle  to  the  Sit  well  family  about  the  year  1S17. 

Stukiky  wrote,  in  1713,  when  travelling  from  Derby:  "A  little  further  north- 
ward, upon  the  Ricning  Street,  is  Horreston  Castle,  whose  ruins  on  a  ho.ir>-  rock 
are  nearly  obliterated,  and  out  of  it  they  cut  great  quantities  of  rub-stones  !«>  whet 
scyths  withal."     So  little  remains  now  of  the  castle  that  not  much  can  be  decided 


470  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

as  to  tlie  date  of  its  arcliitecture  ;  a  very  large  quantity  of  moulded  ashlar  stones 
and  other  fragments,  belonging  to  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  are  built  into  the 
wall  of  the  old  park,  where,  in  one  of  his  progresses.  King  James  I.  amused  himself 
with  hunting  ;  the  park  was  long  since  converted  into  arable  land. 

Under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  C.  Kerry  (see  paper,  vol.  x.  "  Journal "  of  Derby- 
shire Archaeological,  &c.,  Society,  1888),  excavations  have  been  made  on  the  site 
of  the  castle — which  is  on  the  summit  of  a  iiill  about  a  mile  from  Horsley  Church 
— when  the  base  of  a  small  tower  was  cleared  out,  and  the  face  of  the  bank  against 
(he  masonry  fronting  Horsley  was  removed.  "The  present  ruin  formed  a  portion 
uf  the  keep,  which  appears  to  have  been  mult-angular,  and  apparently  constructed 
n  an  outcrop  of  the  rock  at  a  considerable  elevation  above  the  rest  of  the  castle 


0 


buildings." 


The  site  has  been  so  disturbed  by  quarrying  operations  that  the  lines  of 
fortress  can  scarcely  be  made  out  now.  "A  little  while  ago  the  castle  hill  was 
famous  for  its  daffodils,  and  there  was  one  kind  which  was  identified  as  the 
daffodil  of  Syria,  proving  its  Eastern  origin  ;  but  this  variety  has  disappeared 
long  ago." 

MACKWORTH  (wwor) 

THREE  miles  from  Derby,  N.W.  was  a  castle  which,  judging  from  its  grand 
gatehouse — the  chief  remaining  part — must  have  been,  of  considerable  im- 
portance and  extent.  Its  origin  is  imcertain,  nor  is  the  founder  of  it  known.  At 
Domesday  the  manor,  which  has  always  been  held  with  that  of  Markeaton,  was  in 
the  possession  of  one  Gozelin,  under  Earl  Siward,  who,  if  not  owner,  held  it  under 
Hugh  Lupus,  Earl  of  Chester ;  and  this  Gozelin  was  perhaps  the  ancestor  of  the 
Mackworth  family.  In  the  Pipe  Rolls  of  1254  there  occurs  a  Henry  de  Mack- 
worth,  and  the  pedigree  of  this  family  is  complete  from  early  in  the  fifteenth 
century  {see  paper  by  the  Rev.  C.  Kerry, vol.  xi.  "Journal"  of  Derbyshire  Archaeo- 
logical, &c..  Society). 

In  1422  John  Mackworth  was  Dean  of  Lincoln,  his  London  house  being  in 
Holborn,  and  called  Mackworth  Inn  ;  but,  as  it  was  held  by  one  Lyonel  Barnard, 
upon  its  conversion  into  an  Inn  of  Chancery  it  acquired  the  name  of  Barnard's 
Inn,  which  name  the  place  bears  to  this  day,  while  the  arms  of  the  Mackworth 
family  (being  those  of  Touchet  and  Audeley)  are  still  seen  upon  it. 

The  subsequent  line  descends  from  Thomas  Mackworth,  a  younger  brother  of 
the  dean,  who  was  living  in  1433,  and  his  descendant  in  the  sixth  generation  was 
Sir  Thomas  Mackworth,  of  Normanton,  in  Rutland,  created  baronet  in  1619,  whose 
grandson.  Sir  Thomas,  sold  the  castle  and  manor  of  Mackworth,  or  Markeaton,  in 
1655  to  Sir  John  Curzon. 

The  last  baronet  of  this  ancient  line  was  Sir  Henry  Mackworth,  who  died  about 
1803,  s.p.,  as  a  Poor  Brother  of  the  Charterhouse  in  London. 


DERBYSHIRF.  4    i 

When  Sir  Thomas,  who  \v:is  one  of  the  rcprcM  iii.nivc^  (jI  t(ii->  county  in  the 
ici^n  of  Henry  VI.,  married  the  heiress  oi  the  Hasinj^e  family,  he  removed  lii» 
residence  to  Normanton,  and  Mackwortli  Castle  then  in  all  probiibility  suffered  a 
lonj:;  period  of  neglect,  but  nothing  is  known  actually  regarding  its  detiiulitiun. 
According  to  the  tradition  of  the  village,  the  fortress  was  d.    •  '    '  ila- 

Parliamentary  Civil  War,  by  ordnance  planted  on  some  high  l'i  '  tv, 

which  still  is  known  as  the  Cannnii  HilK. 

The  line  gatehouse  which  remains  has  been  ascribetl  by  some  antiquaries  of 
eminence  to  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  but  its  general  a  :  ins 

rather  to  point  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth.     It  is  a  square  building,  he.c  ;ic- 

uKiited,  with  two  circular  bartizans  at  the  front  angles  ;  it  h:is  good  buttresses, 
and  a  fine  corbelled  chimney,  which  has  an  early  look.  It  forms  a  complete 
house  in  itself,  like  Middleton  Tower,  Norfolk,  the  entrance  archway,  which  has 
a  large  room  over,  being  little  more  than  a  doorway,  whose  ogee  head,  with 
square-headed  windows  and  labels  and  battlements,  may  be  of  late  work. 

In  a  field  adjoining  the  W.  side  of  the  gatehouse  are  two  large  quadrangular 
spaces,  which  mark  the  two  courtyards  once  formed  by  the  castle  buildings. 

Mr.  Kerry  observes  that  if  this  castle  had  been  fit  in  15S4  for  the  reception  of 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  it  would  not  li,i\e  been  overlooked  by  Sir  Ralph  Sjidlcr 
when  he  was  conveying  his  captive  to  Tutbury  Castle.  To  deprecate  yiieen 
Elizabeth's  anger  at  his  having  lodged  the  Queen  for  a  night  in  Derby,  he  slates, 
in  a  letter  of  February  5,  15X4,  that  there  was  no  gentleman's  house  anywhere  near 
that  town  suitable  for  housing  her. 

Mackwortli  is  the  property  of  the  Right  Hon.  and  Rev.  the  Lord  Scarstlale. 


M  E  L  B  O  U  R  X  E   (rto,i-exisknt) 

THE    Manor    of    Melbourne    (Mileburne)    is    represented    in    the    Domesday 
Survey  as  belonging  to  the  King,  and  at  the  erection  of  the  See  of  Carlisle, 
in  I  [32,  the  Rectory  of  Melbourne  was  attached  to  this  Bishopric. 

Either  a  rectory  or  a  manor  house  existed  temp.  John,  since  that  wandering 
King  came  there  on  five  dilferent  occasions,  and  caused  a  store  of  wine  to  l>e 
brought  thither  for  his  use  ;  but  in  the  Itinerary  of  King  John,  compiled  by  Sir 
Thomas  D.  Hardy,  no  mention  is  made  of  a  castle  here;  nor  in  1259,  when  the 
manor  was  granted  to  Simon  dc  Montfort  and  his  wife,  Eleanor,  the  King's  sister. 
In  the  reign  of  Edward  1.,  when  the  manor  is  named  in  connection  with  Edmund, 
Earl  of  Lancaster,  the  brother  of  that  King,  this  alone  is  spoken  of.  The  son  ol  ICtrl 
Edmund,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster  and  Leicester,  granted  the  manor  and  house 
of  Melbourne  to  Robert  de  Holland,  who,  in  1311,  obtained  a  licence  t  '  »lc 

his  iiKiiisiiiii  there,  after  which  time  the  records  of  Melbourne  Castle  v.  ...ce; 

but  in   1321    Baron    Holland  forfeited  it  on  attainder,  and  it  is  included  among 
the  possessions  of  Earl  Thomas,  beheaded  at  Pontefract  in  1321  (sfe  Pontekkact), 


472  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

His  brother,  Henry,  was  allowed  to  inherit  his  vast  property  with  the  titles,  and 
from  him  they  passed  to  his  son  Henry,  created  Duke  of  Lancaster  (23  Edward 
III.).  On  the  death  of  this  earl  in  1361,  Melbourne  went  with  other  possessions  to 
his  daughter,  Blanche,  who  brought  them  to  her  husband,  John  of  Gaunt,  Earl  of 
Richmond,  who  was  thereon  made  Duke  of  Lancaster  by  his  father  Edward  III. 

On  the  accession  of  Henry  IV.,  the  son  of  "  time-honoured  Lancaster,"  the 
dukedom  was  by  Act  of  Parliament  formed  into  a  principality  or  duchy,  and  the 
manor  and  castle  of  Melbourne  became  a  part  thereof,  and  remained  so  attached 
until  1604,  when  James  I.  bestowed  them  on  Charles,  Earl  of  Xottingham,  from 
whom  they  passed  to  Henry,  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  and  from  that  family  to  Francis, 
Marquis  of  Hastings. 

The  Castle  stood  at  the  E.  side  of  the  town,  opposite  to  the  end  of  Potter 
Street.  "  Remains  of  the  castle  are  still  visible  in  a  ruinous  wall,  formerly  of  great 
thickness,  standing  on  the  southern  verge  of  the  castle  farmyard,  and  in  the  semi- 
circular base  of  a  turret  recently  unearthed  in  the  garden  of  Castle  Cottage. 
About  five  years  ago  considerable  foundation  walls  were  uncovered  (and  covered 
again)  in  many  parts  of  the  garden  which  lies  between  that  ruinous  wall  and  that 
turret,  now  the  property  of  Lord  Donington."  ("  Journal,"  Derbyshire  Archreo- 
logical,  &c.,  Society,  1889.)  The  Ministers'  accounts,  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  contain 
the  details  of  a  number  of  repairs  and  additions  made  to  the  works  of  this  castle 
between  the  years  1392  and  1430. 

A  large  park  existed  on  this  Royal  demesne,  having  a  fence  y}  miles  in 
circuit,  the  bank  of  which  is  still  traceable. 

Near  the  Park  Farm  are  places  called  the  Queen's  Garden  and  Queen's  Walk, 
so  called  perhaps  from  Katharine,  widow  of  Henry  V.,  of  whose  dower  this  locality 
formed  a  part. 

The  castle  was  for  eighteen  years  the  prison  of  John,  Duke  of  Bourbon,  taken 
at  Agincourt,  in  1415  ;  he  was  at  last  ransomed  for  the  sum  of  ^30,000,  hut  he 
died  on  the  intended  day  of  his  return  to  France.  Melbourne  is  said  to  have  been 
dismantled  during  the  Wars  of  the  Roses,  by  order  of  Queen  Margaret,  but 
Lysons  suggests  that  it  was  afterwards  repaired  by  Edward  IV.,  since  a  hundred 
years  later  Leland  speaks  of  it  as  "  in  metely  repair."  Camden,  whose  travels 
were  taken  in  1582,  describes  Melbourne  as  a  castle  of  the  King's  then  decaying, 
it  being  suffered  to  go  to  ruin  by  the  Earls  of  Huntingdon. 

In  vol.  i.  of  the  "Vetusta  Monumenta  "  (published  by  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries, 1747),  is  a  drawing  showing  the  elevation  of  the  castle  in  1602,  when  a 
survey  was  made  of  this  "  faire  ancient  castle  which  her  Majesty  keepeth  in  her 
own  hands."  It  shows  a  square  gatehouse,  with  a  succession  of  some  twelve 
embattled  turrets,  round  and  square,  defending  the  enceinte,  the  dwellings  within 
being  surmounted  with  tall  fantastic  chimney  shafts.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine 
what  can  have  become  of  such  a  mass  of  elaborate  masonrv,  all  now  vanished. 


DK R B YSH I  KI- 


TH P2    PEAK   (minor) 


473 


TilK  I'uak  Custlc   has    been    wrongly  called  Casllctoii   h\    Kn.- 
but  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  place  of  that  name.     Its  ahno^t  i 
situation  on  the  siinmiit  of  a  high  cliff  commended  this  position  in  veryearlv  tiniL> 
as  one  of  importance,  and  when  William   I'everel,  the  builder  of  Uoisovcr  (./.:.  i 


■Ic 


rni.  I'LAK 


foundeil  this  castle  lie  probably  occupied  the  site  of  a  still  earlier  one.  On  tlie 
\V.  and  E.  sides  the  rock  is  quite  perpendicular,  and  can  o\\\\  be  climbed  with 
difficulty  on  the  X.  and  S.,  the  ascent  being  by  .i  very  narrow  p.ith  where  a  small 
party  might  defy  a  host,  and  inunediately  below  it,  at  a  depth  of  J<X)  feet,  is  the 
gloomy  entrance  to  the  wonderful  Peak  cavern.  The  fortress  consisted  of  a  plani 
wall  of  rectangular  trace,  now  in  ruins,  built  almost  on  the  edge  of  the  clilf,  and 
enclosing  an  area  of  such  narrow  dimensions  that  it  could  never  have  held  more 
than  a  very  small  garrison  ;  as  niu>t  have  been  the  case  in  m.uivof  the  picture-Miiie 
VOL.  I.  .i  " 


474  CASTLES   OF   ENGLAND 

castles  which  in  Germany  and  Italy  are  perched  on  the  summit  of  similar  hill- 
tops. On  the  X.  side  were  two  small  towers,  one  being  an  open  bastion,  and  at 
the  S.W.  corner  is  a  square  tower  or  keep  with  walls,  8  feet  thick,  and  measuring 
38  feet  by  21,  of  a  primitive  and  unrefined  type,  containing,  on  three  floors  over 
the  vaulted  basement,  a  cellar,  the  hall  or  house-place,  and  the  chamber. 
Wooden  buildings  in  the  court  may  have  supplemented  the  accommodation,  but 
it  is  hard  to  see  how  any  state  could  have  been  kept  up  within  such  narrow 
limits,  and  the  "tournaments"  said  to  have  taken  place  in  the  little  courtyard 
would  be  impossible.  Access  to  the  lower  room  of  the  keep  was  by  a  flight  of 
stairs  on  the  E.  side  and  S.,  where  would  be  also  a  drawbridge  attached  to  the 
outer  S.  wall,  but  these  stairs  have  gone,  as  has  also  the  ashlar  facing  of  the 
keep.  The  entrance  gateway  on  the  E.  face  of  the  outer  wall,  immediately  below 
which  falls  a  valley  200  feet  deep,  has  also  disappeared.  William  Peverel,  the 
builder  of  the  Peak  and  Bolsover,  being  a  natural  son  of  the  Conqueror,  was,  in 
1068,  appointed  to  immense  possessions  in  several  counties  :  he  had  the  castle 
of  Nottingham,  with  fifty-three  lordships  in  that  county,  forty-four  in  Northants, 
two  in  Sussex,  two  in  Oxfordshire,  two  in  Beds,  and  six  in  Derbyshire,  includ- 
ing the  honour  of  Peverel.  All  this  at  his  death,  in  1142,  came  to  his  son,  also 
called  William,  who,  towards  the  end  of  Stephen's  reign,  being  accused  of 
poisoning  Ranulph,  Earl  of  Chester,  fled  for  refuge  to  Lenton,  where  he  assumed 
a  monk's  cowl.  On  the  King,  Henry  II.,  coming  to  York,  he  had  to  fly  to 
escape  punishment,  when  Henry  seized  at  once  on  his  castles  of  Nottingham, 
Bolsover  and  Peak,  with  all  his  other  estates,  and  henceforth  they  remained  in 
the  hands  of  the  Crown.  Even  now  the  Peak  is  only  leased  to  the  Duke  of 
Devonshire.  A  guard  was  then  placed  in  the  castle,  of  two  watchmen  and 
a  porter,  and  it  was  conferred  by  the  King  on  his  son,  Prince  John,  some 
rooms  and  other  buildings  being  added  to  the  fortress  in  this  reign.  Richard  I., 
on  his  brother  John's  rebellion,  made. Hugh  de  Novant,  Bishop  of  Coventry,  its 
custodian.  In  1216  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  rebellions  Barons,  and  there  is  a 
letter  from  John  to  Brian  de  L'Isle,  who  held  it,  to  give  up  the  castle  to  William 
Ferrars,  Earl  of  Derby,  who,  however,  had  to  take  the  place  by  assault — no 
easy  matter — and  having  done  so  was  appointed  custodian.  Henry  III.  took 
jealous  care  of  the  castle  and  its  royal  forest,  together  with  Bolsover.  He 
entrusted  the  Peak  to  Prince  Edward,  and  at  one  time  it  was  under  Simon  de 
Montfort  himself.  Edward  I.  placed  the  powerful  William,  Earl  Warren,  over  it, 
and  Edward  II.,  Piers  Gaveston,  and  then  John,  Earl  Warren.  Edward  III.  gave 
it  to  his  sister,  Joan,  but  in  his  forty-sixth  year  he  conferred  the  castle  on  John  of 
Gaunt,  when  this,  like  so  many  other  places,  was  absorbed  in  the  Duchy  of 
Lancaster,  together  with  the  manor  and  honour. 

From  the  fourteenth  century  down  to  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  this  "  castle  in  the 
Peke,"  as  Camden  calls  it,  was  of  sufficient  importance  to  have  various  governors 
appointed  to  it,  but  they  could  not  have  lived  in  such  restricted  and  miserable 


DFRBYSHIRl-.  475 

quarters.  King,  in  his  valuable  treatise  on  ancient  castle--,  (puhli^llc•d  in  the 
"  Archa'olofjia  "  of  1782),  aftirms  that  Peverel  had  another  habitation  at  Hrou^h 
near  Castleton,  whence  an  ancient  Roman  road  wvnt  to  Buxton  ;  but  thi»  i!>  a 
mistake,  as  no  residence  of  his  existed  there. 

A  drawing  in  Buck's  "Antiquities"  (vol.  i.  pi.  23),  (laifd  17^7. -i  '..en 

enclosure  wall  almost  on  the  edge  of  the  precipice,  and  the  !•  ■         ,  ep, 

ruined  at  top,  with  square  pilasters  at  the  corners,  of  the  Norman  type,  and  loopK. 
There  was  one  large  window  on  the  W.  side  of  the  upper  chamber,  and  two 
splayed  loops  in  the  iiall,  at  the  S.W.  corner  of  which  apartment  a  paNS.»ge  in  the 
wall  conducts  to  a  spiral  stair  which  mounted  to  the  roof  ;  in  another  tonit-r  was 
the  well  shaft,  carried  from  the  ground  to  the  topmost  floor,  and  in  the  op|x»Mtc 
angle  was  a  garderobe  and  drain,  cfjrbelled  out  from  the  wall.  Tlie  large  niche 
in  the  W.  wall  of  the  upper  chamber  is  supposed  to  have  formed  an  oratory,  but 
it  may  also  have  contained  the  castellan's  bed.  The  castle  had  no  outer  ditch  or 
drawbridge.  (See  also  vol.  vi.  of  the  Anhaologiail  Jounutl,  where  many  views  of 
the  castle,  with  details,  are  given  in  a  paper  by  the  Rev.  C  H.  Hartsh 
There  is  also  a  full  account  of  it  with  drawings  in  King's  pa|H.T  on  .Aiu  - ..;  ^  ..  ... 
in  "  Arch.cologia,"  vol.  vi.) 


E,\D  OK  vol..  1. 


U.C.L.A. 
Arts  Library 


L  007  796  307  2 


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